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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26287009">DragonFruit</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/haleyross/pseuds/haleyross'>haleyross</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>The View From The Observatory [4]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Lucifer (TV)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Epilogue, F/F, F/M, Hellhounds, Part 4 of 4, Past Rape/Non-con, Post-Season/Series 03 AU, Smut, Spiders, Therapy, long chapters sorry, non-canon, the actual end of this series</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-09-04</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-09-04</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 07:35:58</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Mature</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>4</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>44,763</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/26287009</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/haleyross/pseuds/haleyross</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>The Epilogue to the View from the Observatory Series. Ties up the smaller loose ends from the story and serves as a “where are they now.” Focuses mainly on Natalie and Maze, but works its way around through all the main characters. [COMPLETE]</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Abel/Ella Lopez, Chloe Decker/Lucifer Morningstar, Mazikeen (Lucifer TV) &amp; Original Character(s)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>The View From The Observatory [4]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1366963</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>28</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>73</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Chapter 1</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>--</p><p> </p><p>Inside the bedroom of Natalie’s shitty apartment, a much younger Natalie and a much younger Liz are in the middle of a very intimate moment. Liz lays back on the bed, panting and in recovery. She chuckles breathlessly to herself before Natalie slides up her nude body, her face covered in juices.</p><p> </p><p>Natalie kisses Liz, and Liz kisses her back. She wraps her arms around Natalie and pulls her up so that she lays on top. Then, Liz tilts her body so that Natalie is laid onto her back on the bed.</p><p> </p><p>Natalie moves to get up, but Liz holds her down.</p><p> </p><p>“I want to make you feel good,” she says, kissing Natalie’s neck.</p><p> </p><p>“I was thinking we could use the strap,” Natalie says.</p><p> </p><p>“Oh?” Liz says, surprised.</p><p> </p><p>Natalie smiles, “how long has it been since you had a <em>true </em>vaginal orgasm?”</p><p> </p><p>Liz’s smile falls a little.</p><p> </p><p>“Oh, I thought you meant for you.”</p><p> </p><p>Natalie looks at her then scoffs, amused.</p><p> </p><p>“No, of course not.”</p><p> </p><p>Liz slides her hand down Natalie’s chest, onto her stomach. Natalie’s skin jumps beneath Liz’s hands, tense.</p><p> </p><p>“I want to make you feel good,” Liz says, “I never ever get to do you. I should be asking when the last time <em>you </em>had a vaginal orgasm was.”</p><p> </p><p>Natalie’s smile falls, and she stands, pulling herself away from Liz and walking clear across the room. She reaches down to slide on her pants.</p><p> </p><p>“You know that’s not what we do,” she says.</p><p> </p><p>Liz slouches, frustrated.</p><p> </p><p>“C’mon Nat! I’m starting to feel like … like you don’t want me or something.”</p><p> </p><p>Natalie turns to her, her eyebrows furrowed.</p><p> </p><p>“What? Why would you say that?”</p><p> </p><p>“Because you hardly let me touch you! I mean, the sex is good, but its always just you doing me. I want to make you feel good too!”</p><p> </p><p>Natalie shakes her head, reaching for her shirt.</p><p> </p><p>“We’ve been over this. I just … it doesn’t work that way.”</p><p> </p><p>“How do you know if you never try?” Liz asks.</p><p> </p><p>“Liz …”</p><p> </p><p>“Please,” Liz asks, “I … I feel like you don’t love me.”</p><p> </p><p>Natalie shakes her head, pulling her shirt down over her body. She approaches Liz.</p><p> </p><p>“That’s not true, you know that,” she says, holding Liz’s face in her hands.</p><p> </p><p>“What’s wrong then? What did I do? Do I need to do something else? I’m not into all that … gagging and stuff but … if that’s what you need then-“</p><p> </p><p>“No, that’s not what this is about,” Natalie says.</p><p> </p><p>“Then what?” Liz says, her eyes tearing up, “Is it someone else?”</p><p> </p><p>Natalie shakes her head, offended that Liz would even suggest that.</p><p> </p><p>“As if I would let anyone else touch me,” she says, disgusted by the idea.</p><p> </p><p>Liz reaches her hands out and yanks on the shirt.</p><p> </p><p>“Then let me,” she says, pulling Natalie closer.</p><p> </p><p>“I … I can’t,” Natalie whispers, sadly.</p><p> </p><p>“Why?” Liz asks.</p><p> </p><p>Natalie sighs and pulls away from Liz before taking a seat next to her on the bed. She lowers her head, her arms crossed around her torso.</p><p> </p><p>“Tell me what I did wrong,” Liz says.</p><p> </p><p>“Nothing,” Natalie says, shaking her head.</p><p> </p><p>“Then what is it?” Liz asks, “Why won't you let me-“</p><p> </p><p>“Something happened,” Natalie interrupts, “when … when I was younger. In the group home.”</p><p> </p><p>Liz watches her for a moment, her eyebrows furrowing.</p><p> </p><p>“Something happened?” she asks.</p><p> </p><p>Natalie shakes her head and closes her eyes, trying to keep the nausea at bay.</p><p> </p><p>Trying to keep from thinking about it.</p><p> </p><p>Trying to keep from telling another soul.</p><p> </p><p>It was her secret, one she had intended to carry to the grave. One she had intended to hide behind power poses and a badge, but …</p><p> </p><p>She looks at Liz, a welling of tears in her eyes. If she couldn’t tell Liz, who could she tell? If Liz wouldn’t comfort her, who would?</p><p> </p><p>“What’s wrong?” Liz says, worried.</p><p> </p><p>She’s never seen Natalie this … emotional.</p><p> </p><p>“I uh…,” Natalie says, turning her head away, “I was attacked.”</p><p> </p><p>“Attacked? Is that where the scar came from?” Liz asks, “baby, I would never hurt you. You know –“</p><p> </p><p>“No, I don’t mean like that. I mean … I uhm,” she says, trying to find any word other than the word she knows would clear up any misconception.</p><p> </p><p>That she knows would sum up her experience and leave no room for interpretation. No room to hide.</p><p> </p><p>Anything other than the word that would make her feel like a victim. Powerless.</p><p> </p><p>“He … attacked me,” she says softly, “uhm, in the garden.”</p><p> </p><p>Liz shakes her head, still not understanding.</p><p> </p><p>“Who attacked you?”</p><p> </p><p>“Father Grayson,” she says.</p><p> </p><p>Liz furrows her eyebrows, “The priest?” she says.</p><p> </p><p>Natalie nods, “I just wanted to hang out with my friends. I - I wasn’t doing anything wrong and-“</p><p> </p><p>“Well I mean it makes sense,” Liz says, “Corporeal punishment was pretty rampant in religious –“</p><p> </p><p>“He didn’t hit me,” Natalie says, upset.</p><p> </p><p>“I … you just said,” Liz begins.</p><p> </p><p>Natalie glares at her as if she were being dense.</p><p> </p><p>Liz catches on and tilts her head backwards, the force of her realization hitting her.</p><p> </p><p> “Oh,” she says.</p><p> </p><p>Natalie turns her head away, not able to look at Liz now that she knows.</p><p> </p><p>“Oh … <em>Oh God</em>,” Liz says, holding her hand to her mouth.</p><p> </p><p>Natalie scoffs.</p><p> </p><p>God.</p><p> </p><p>Liz pitches forward and wraps her arms around Natalie, “I … I’m so sorry! I … that makes so much sense now.”</p><p> </p><p>Natalie shakes her head, trying to keep the tears at bay. She felt so … exposed.</p><p> </p><p>“But,” Liz says, sitting back, “are you sure it was him? He’s a priest after all. That seems-“</p><p> </p><p>“I know who it was,” Natalie says, turning to Liz, angry.</p><p> </p><p>“His face is burned into my memory because of what he did to me. I know who it was,” Natalie says.</p><p> </p><p>Liz frowns and sighs, “Nat I …”</p><p> </p><p>“You don’t think I know who it was?” Natalie says, upset.</p><p> </p><p>“Babe, I’m not saying you don’t. I- you know in law school, we talk about mistaken identity a lot. Especially in-“</p><p> </p><p>She stands, pulling herself away from the bed.</p><p> </p><p>“He raped me Liz,” she says, the word acidic on her tongue.</p><p> </p><p>It tastes like bile and shame and guilt.</p><p> </p><p>“He held me down and - and I told him to stop. I said no!”</p><p> </p><p>“Okay,” Liz says, standing, seeing Natalie getting worked up.</p><p> </p><p>It was strange to see her so emotional. She never got emotional over anything.</p><p> </p><p>“I didn’t mean it like that, I’m just …I’m processing it,” Liz says.</p><p> </p><p>She snakes her hands between Natalie’s arms and pulls her into a hug.</p><p> </p><p>“I didn’t mean it like that,” she says, resting her head on Natalie’s chest.</p><p> </p><p>She can feel Natalie’s heart thumping.</p><p> </p><p>Natalie pulls her arms around Liz. She was slightly taller than Liz and lifts her chin slightly to rest it on Liz’s head.</p><p> </p><p>“It’s okay,” Liz says, “I’m sorry I asked.”</p><p> </p><p>Natalie doesn’t respond</p><p> </p><p>“I just thought it had something to do with me,” Liz says, relieved.</p><p> </p><p>Natalie slowly nods, and Liz smiles.</p><p> </p><p>“Come,” she says, leading her to the bed.</p><p> </p><p>Natalie puts up enough resistance to slow down the drag, but Liz seems determined. Like she could do something to fix this.</p><p> </p><p>“Liz, I don’t want to-“</p><p> </p><p>“Let me make it better,” she says, pushing Natalie on the bed.</p><p> </p><p>“Liz, honestly, I … I don’t feel like-“</p><p> </p><p>“Shh,” Liz says, placing a finger over Natalie’s mouth to hush her.</p><p> </p><p>“Liz, <em>please</em>!” she says.</p><p> </p><p>Lis pauses, slumps down, and sighs.</p><p> </p><p>“Fine,” she says, a small hint of annoyance in her voice, “fine. You’re right… the mood is killed anyway. Maybe - maybe next time.”</p><p> </p><p>Natalie sighs, relieved, and nods.</p><p> </p><p>“Sure,” she says, hesitation in her voice, “Next time.”</p><p> </p><p>She avoids sex for a week.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>--</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>A week later, on the side of a back road, Liz and Natalie steam up the inside of a parked sedan. It is the middle of the day despite the gray skies and slow trickle of rain that makes it seem much later. It was Liz’s idea, and after half an hour of pretending to not know what Liz wanted, Natalie had to admit to herself the temptation was too much.</p><p> </p><p>So, not even an hour into being stranded on the side of the road, Liz and Natalie find themselves in the back seat. A pantless Liz, her foot on the side of the driver’s side seat, moans as Natalie is leaned between her legs. Natalie hums as her tongue dances to a familiar tune. She had starved herself for a week from her favorite activity, and her hunger translates.</p><p> </p><p>“Fuck babe,” Liz huffs, astonished.</p><p> </p><p>Natalie lets go of a warm chuckle, her free hand slipping up beneath the loose t-shirt Liz still wears. Her thumb flicks the sensitive nipple of Liz’s breast.</p><p> </p><p>Liz brings a hand up and holds Natalie’s hand there.</p><p> </p><p>“You want me to cum on your face?” Liz says, her eyes dark with lust.</p><p> </p><p>Natalie hums in response, continuing to do what she is doing. Liz’s thighs snap shut, trapping Natalie’s head inside as Liz’s body grinds against her.</p><p> </p><p>Natalie’s eyes move up to her as Liz’s head tilts back.</p><p> </p><p>She moans before gasping. All the muscles in her body tense, and she pulls her head up, deep in the throes of her orgasm, to lock eyes with Natalie.</p><p> </p><p>As her thighs relax, a hand comes down and holds Natalie’s head there as she gyrates her hips into Natalie’s mouth.</p><p> </p><p>“Oh,” she says after a while, her body relaxing back against the passenger door, “I love you.”</p><p> </p><p>Natalie smiles and sits up, a warm chuckle coming from her throat. “You liked that?” she asks as she leans forward and kisses Liz. The kiss is sloppy, Liz’s tongue running around Natalie’s mouth to taste herself.</p><p> </p><p>Natalie sits back and leans over into the front passenger seat of her car. She wakes her phone to check the time. She sighs before sitting back against the door.</p><p> </p><p>“Well, that leaves us two more hours to kill,” Natalie says, “I suppose we could have an impromptu lunch. I think we still have some sandwiches in the cooler.”</p><p> </p><p>Liz smiles and sits up, pulling herself in between Natalie’s legs.</p><p> </p><p>“Or we could do you this time,” she says.</p><p> </p><p>Natalie pauses.</p><p> </p><p>“I … no, it's okay. I’m not in the mood,” she says.</p><p> </p><p>“You’re not?” Liz says, knowing Natalie is lying.</p><p> </p><p>She reaches down to Natalie’s belt and unbuckles it.</p><p> </p><p>“Yeah, you know, plus what if the tow truck comes sooner. We don’t want to be caught,” Natalie says.</p><p> </p><p>Liz pauses, “You just ate me out less than a minute ago. Now you’re worried about being caught?” Liz asks.</p><p> </p><p>“Well, it’s just that-“ she begins.</p><p> </p><p>Liz glares at her, waiting for her to say something that makes sense.</p><p> </p><p>“I just …” Natalie says before sighing and giving in, “No, you’re right I …it’s unfair. It’s just, you know how I feel about-”</p><p> </p><p>“Come on, it’s been long enough now. Don’t you think? You should be over that by now,” Liz says.</p><p> </p><p>Natalie looks at her for a moment, in disbelief.</p><p> </p><p>“Let me do this for you,” Liz says with a smile, leaning forward and kissing Natalie on the neck.</p><p> </p><p>Natalie furrows her eyebrows, anger brewing in her spirit. Then, that anger snaps and gives way to confusion, then a resigned sadness as reality slips into her mind.</p><p> </p><p>Maybe no one cares about it as much as she does. Why would they? It didn’t happen to them. And Liz was … Liz was good. She forced Natalie out of her comfort zone, and as a result, Natalie had friends.<em> Real</em> friends.</p><p> </p><p>Perhaps Liz is the best that she could do, and maybe this is how relationships were supposed to be? Perhaps she was overthinking it, or maybe it was time she let it go? She was an adult now, with a decent enough job and the means to defend herself. She shouldn’t be holding on to the past.</p><p> </p><p>And it had been so long since her younger days.</p><p> </p><p> Since she tried to be intimate – truly intimate - with other people.</p><p> </p><p> Since it didn’t work.</p><p> </p><p>Since she had convinced herself that she was broken.</p><p> </p><p>Maybe, maybe Liz would be different.</p><p> </p><p>Liz unzips Natalie’s pants zipper and slides them off her.</p><p> </p><p>“You’re not in the mood?” Liz asks, grinning as she sees the wet spot in the front of Natalie’s 4-to-a-pack cotton underwear.</p><p> </p><p>Liz crawls over to her, and they kiss.</p><p> </p><p>“You’re going to wish we did this sooner,” Liz says grinning.</p><p> </p><p>She hooks her fingers beneath Natalie’s underwear, and Natalie raises her hips off the seat so Liz can slide it down her leg.</p><p> </p><p>A hand touches her between her legs, and Natalie tenses. Liz keeps eye contact as she slides herself down, folding herself within the confines of the car. When her tongue meets Natalie’s flesh she watches Natalie for a response.</p><p> </p><p>The response is … lacking.</p><p> </p><p>Natalie stares, trying to focus. Trying to focus on Liz and nothing else. Not the windows where people can clearly see, or how far away from anything they are. Her eyes flip behind her, and she notices her door is unlocked. She reaches up and locks it.</p><p> </p><p>Liz doesn’t notice as she is busy in her own world. Her tongue dances between Natalie’s wet folds, barely touching the sensitive nerve bundle at the top. Liz goes on like this for a few moments, Natalie humming through it – a pleasant response but not the kind that should get her somewhere.</p><p> </p><p>Eventually, after several moments of nothing, Liz pulls away.</p><p> </p><p>“Is something wrong?” she asks.</p><p> </p><p>Natalie shakes her head, “No, not at all,” she says with a fake smile.</p><p> </p><p>Liz goes back to what she was doing, and Natalie looks around nervously.</p><p> </p><p>Liz smiles and pulls away, “I know what you need,” she says before sliding a finger into her mouth. Natalie watches her, a feeling of impending doom sliding up across her shoulders and setting heavy on them like a gargoyle. Liz takes her fingers out of her mouth before sliding it slowly into Natalie.</p><p> </p><p>Natalie sucks in a breath, her jaw tensing. She grimaces before her grimace falls flat, trying to hide the look on her face from Liz.</p><p> </p><p>Liz keeps going, adding another finger until she is using her tongue to flick Natalie’s clit while her fingers curve in and out of her. Natalie moans in response, her eyes closing, but that is all she gets. Liz continues to try harder, doing it faster.</p><p> </p><p>“Come on,” Liz says, “Cum for me.”</p><p> </p><p>Natalie tilts her head down to Liz, fully aware that having an orgasm is not something that is going to happen. But Liz is trying so hard. She feels a wave of shame fall over and sighs to herself. Moments later, she is putting on a show. Gasping and moaning and throwing her head back. Liz seems to take it as a hint to keep going.</p><p> </p><p>Natalie pants, and suddenly her body tenses, and she holds her hand out to Liz’s head to keep her in place. She moans loudly, and Liz hums happily. She continues to lick as Natalie relaxes, her eyes closed.</p><p> </p><p>She doesn’t say anything. She just lies there, waiting for Liz to respond first. Waiting for Liz takes the bait.</p><p> </p><p>Liz pulls away from her then kisses Natalie sweetly.</p><p> </p><p>“See? Not all bad,” she giggles before kissing Natalie’s neck and pulling away to get her pants.</p><p> </p><p>“Don’t you wish we did that sooner?” Liz grins, proud of herself.</p><p> </p><p>Natalie fakes a smile and nods, “Yeah,” she says.</p><p> </p><p>“<em>Now </em>we can have sandwiches,” Liz says.</p><p> </p><p>Natalie smiles and reaches for her underwear. Her smile suddenly falls the more guilty she feels.</p><p> </p><p>If Liz ever found out …well, Liz will <em>never</em> find out.</p><p> </p><p>If Natalie had to fake it every time, she would. Apparently, she’s a good actor.</p><p> </p><p>Maybe it was wrong, but it was necessary, she thinks, for their relationship.</p><p> </p><p>To keep the peace.</p><p> </p><p>To prevent an argument.</p><p> </p><p>To keep Liz happy.</p><p> </p><p>The more she thinks about it, the more she convinces herself it is possible.</p><p> </p><p>The more convincing she does, oddly, the more alone she feels.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>--</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>The clock loudly ticks on a wall nearby as Linda Martin stirs her cup of tea. She watches the spoon as it clatters against the side of the cup then looks up to see Natalie Edwards staring lost out into nothing.</p><p> </p><p>“So,” she says, setting the spoon on a napkin nearby, “now that you’ve … <em>evaded </em>everyone for two and a half weeks. Are we ready to talk about what we saw and heard?”</p><p> </p><p>Natalie just stares and sighs. She shakes her head, no.</p><p> </p><p>“Okay, well what about our normal topics. Have we made any progress since our last session? Any new epiphanies?”</p><p> </p><p>“No,” she admits, “but … I mean, I’ve had a few more <em>pressing </em>concerns to think about than… than <em>that</em>.”</p><p> </p><p>“Okay, well, let’s start with how we are feeling,” Linda says.</p><p> </p><p>“Overwhelmed,” Natalie says, “Angry.”</p><p> </p><p>“Okay, well … I understand the overwhelmed part. Been there. Talk to me about the anger.”</p><p> </p><p>Natalie scoffs.</p><p> </p><p>She doesn’t say anything. She just crosses her arms and legs. Linda stares at her and thinks she understands.</p><p> </p><p>“Have you spoken to Maze since, well, since that whole <em>thing</em> happened? Since you discovered the truth?”</p><p> </p><p>Natalie scoffs again, “Why would I? How could I? I was dating a demon. Like, an <em>actual </em>demon.”</p><p> </p><p>“Right, and I am in a relationship with an angel. Like, wings and everything.”</p><p> </p><p>Natalie looks at her oddly as if not knowing what to say to that.</p><p> </p><p>“Congratulations?” she says, in a not so congratulatory manner.</p><p> </p><p>Linda smiles, “You’re upset because you think you got the short end the stick.”</p><p> </p><p>“You know, I’m not religious anymore. But I - I <em>was</em> raised Catholic, and I <em>know </em>demons are bad.”</p><p> </p><p>Linda tilts her head, “You say you’re not religious, yet instead of relying on personal experiences, you’re using religious doctrine to determine how you should feel about Maze. Someone you’ve known and loved.”</p><p> </p><p>Natalie scoffs and rolls her eyes, “I don’t expect you to understand,” she says.</p><p> </p><p>“Oh no, I think I understand. You’re hiding behind the revelation of Maze’s identity. You’re using that to hide anger not at Maze but …but at religion itself. At God. I mean, she never hid from you who she was. That’s the one thing I will say about her and Lucifer. They were … very <em>upfront </em>about it.”</p><p> </p><p>Natalie narrows her eyes for a moment.</p><p> </p><p>“Did you ever ask her?” Linda says.</p><p> </p><p>Natalie grunts and shakes her foot on her leg.</p><p> </p><p>Natalie sighs and shakes her head.</p><p> </p><p>“I’m questioning everything,” she admits.</p><p> </p><p>“That’s reasonable, expected even,” Linda offers.</p><p> </p><p>Natalie shakes her head, her eyes going distant again.</p><p> </p><p>Linda’s eyes move down to Natalie’s shaking foot, and she notices a tear in Natalie’s stocking, near her ankle. She furrows her eyebrows.</p><p> </p><p>Natalie is just about as particular about her clothing as Lucifer. She would never wear a torn stocking. Linda’s eyes cast back over her, noticing small out of place things.</p><p> </p><p>A misplaced curl here, chipped nail polish there. Things that on the surface seem normal, but beneath it shows signs of stress.</p><p> </p><p>“Have you been sticking to your routine? Eating? Sleeping? Showering? Maintaining our everyday patterns during times like this can often help us deal with life-changing information,” Linda says.</p><p> </p><p>“I uh,” Natalie says, blinking and turning to Linda, “Yeah. I uh … I’ve had to change up a few things, but …yeah. Eating, sleeping… all of that. Everything is normal.”</p><p> </p><p>“You say that yet I get the feeling things aren’t normal,” Linda asks.</p><p> </p><p>“I’m fine,” Natalie says, waving her off.</p><p> </p><p>“You know I’m not going to let you slide on denial, Natalie. Clearly, you are experiencing some exceptional psychological distress, and it would be a reasonable response to what you’ve learned, but …this isn’t like you. A torn stocking?”</p><p> </p><p>Natalie looks down at her ankle and sighs, “You noticed that, did you?”</p><p> </p><p>“It’s my job to pay attention,” Linda says.</p><p> </p><p>Natalie sighs.</p><p> </p><p>“What kind of changes did you make?” Linda asks.</p><p> </p><p>“I’ve uhm, I sleep on the couch in my office.”</p><p> </p><p>“Oh, okay,” Linda says, “that’s not too strange. Sometimes I nap in my office.”</p><p> </p><p>Natalie shakes her head, “I had them bring a couch into my office so I can sleep on it. Well, they don’t know that is what it is for. Since the city went to complete shit for one night, we’ve been backlogged on everything: theft, petty crimes, major crimes, murder. We’re just now finishing the missing person reports from last week. <em>Reports,</em> not even solving the cases.”</p><p> </p><p>“Wow,” Linda says, “That bad, huh?”</p><p> </p><p>“Yeah,” Natalie huffs.</p><p> </p><p>She pauses for a moment, thinking about it, before shaking her head.</p><p> </p><p>“They think I asked for a couch because I have more visitors than normal,” she scoffs, disgusted at herself, “But I brought it in so I could sleep on it. How pathetic is that?”</p><p> </p><p>“Why are you sleeping in your office?” Linda asks, innocently.</p><p> </p><p>“Because I’m petrified!” Natalie snaps.</p><p> </p><p>Linda raises her eyes.</p><p> </p><p>“I mean … I just found out that angels and demons exist! And if they exist, then that means <em>God</em> exists. And if God exists then - then … then all of <em>this</em>,” she says, waving her hands around, “isn’t just some anomaly, is it? Things don’t just <em>happen,</em> do they? No, God <em>makes</em> them happen.”</p><p> </p><p>Linda raises her head, an understanding in her mind.</p><p> </p><p>“Oh,” Linda says.</p><p> </p><p>“He makes things happen, and all of this is some part of his plan right?,” Natalie says, real fear in her voice, “So yeah, I’m angry. I’m angry that I seemingly got the short end of the stick. I work my ass off, I try to follow the rules and I - I try to <em>help </em>people. You know, do some <em>actual </em>fucking good. And somehow, I still run into all the traps. With being born, with being raped, with Liz, with mistress being found out, and now … now, after all that, God is real! And all that shit I went through isn’t just bad luck.”</p><p> </p><p>Linda nods and just listens as Natalie rants.</p><p> </p><p>“I – I’ve spent most of my adult life trying to make this place better. Thinking, if I’m just going to die and rot in the ground, then the best thing I could do is leave this place better than I found it. I mean, I’ve seen horrible people come through here, and they have <em>everything</em>. The money, the …the fame. They get away with <em>literal </em>murder and…”</p><p> </p><p>She scoffs and shakes her head in disdain. Her anger slowly fades into sadness.</p><p> </p><p>“What do I get?” she asks, “what did I ever do to deserve such a … shitty hand?”</p><p> </p><p>“Mm,” Linda hums, nodding and taking that all in.</p><p> </p><p> “So, you’re struggling with the idea that you might not have had as much control over your life as you once thought you did.”</p><p> </p><p>Natalie scoffs, “Over life, over love. Hell, I fell in love with a literal demon for Christ’s sake.”</p><p> </p><p>Natalie pauses, her forehead scrunching, “Maybe I shouldn’t say that. God, does that mean Jesus is real too? And Noah? And …Sodom and Gomorrah? Fuck am I going to hell?”</p><p> </p><p>“So, you’ve finally admitted to yourself that you do have feelings for Maze,” Linda says with a smile.</p><p> </p><p>Natalie looks at her, appalled, “Did you hear what I said? Who fucking cares about that! None of <em>this</em> is up to us.”</p><p> </p><p>“Mmm,” Linda hums, “I think recent events have heightened the anxiety you experience around the idea of being powerless. Having a lack of control. In fact, I would almost say most of your problems boil down to that. You feel as though you have little control over your life. Your abandonment, your sexual assault …these are moments that make you feel powerless. And so it’s only natural that you might have negative emotional outbursts when faced with powerlessness and being out of control.</p><p> </p><p>Natalie rolls her eyes, having heard this already.</p><p> </p><p>“I think learning all of this might actually be beneficial to you. I think learning to calm these anxieties means resolving or giving a voice to these fears. You need to talk about how you feel, express your emotions, and be unapologetic about your feelings.”</p><p> </p><p>Natalie scoffs and shakes her head, “It’s bad enough that I have to talk about my feelings with <em>you</em>,” she says.</p><p> </p><p>Linda nods, “You use others not knowing how you feel as a type of power play,” Linda says, “but by denying your own feelings, not expressing them, you actually do yourself harm.”</p><p> </p><p>Natalie shrugs, “What is the point anymore?” she says, resigned.</p><p> </p><p>“We’ve talked a little about your abandonment and last session we spoke a little about your assault, and I’d like to dive a little further into that this time if you let me.”</p><p> </p><p>“You said I didn’t have to talk about that anymore,” Natalie responds, her arms crossed.</p><p> </p><p>“Well, we’re not going to do a play by play, I don’t think that’s necessary, but I want to dive more into this idea of powerlessness and what it stems from. I mean certainly, the attack will bring that out. It’s a common anxiety amongst survivors, but you seem to hold on much tighter to that than other patients I’ve had with similar stories.“</p><p> </p><p>Natalie shakes her head, “There is nothing left to tell. You already know everything.”</p><p> </p><p>“Not everything,” Linda says.</p><p> </p><p>Natalie turns her head to Linda, her eyes narrowed.</p><p> </p><p>Linda sits up in her chair a bit, and Natalie’s eyes nervously watch her. She didn’t like it when Linda sat up. It meant she was about to say something that made Natalie very uncomfortable.</p><p> </p><p>“How do you think your attack has affected your personal behavior? Your sexual relationships?”</p><p> </p><p>Natalie shakes her head, “It hasn’t,” she says, “I like what I like and … it has nothing to do with that.”</p><p> </p><p>“Mazikeen is my best friend,” Linda says, “Demon or not she is …tribe. And we talk about things. I wasn’t going to bring it up unless you did, but … I believe we are at a juncture where not bringing it up seems like more harm than good.”</p><p> </p><p>“What are you talking about?”  Natalie says, “Is this about Mistress? Yes, I agreed that it was probably a bad idea considering my job duties, but I told you. Liz wasn’t into-“</p><p> </p><p>Linda shakes her head, “It’s not about your alter ego.”</p><p> </p><p>Natalie shakes her head, her facial expression telling Linda to spit it out.</p><p> </p><p>“It’s about you always being on the giving end and never receiving.”</p><p> </p><p>Natalie’s face goes red, “She told you that?”</p><p> </p><p>Linda nods.</p><p> </p><p>“I mean, it makes sense. You have a need for control as a result of a traumatic experience and chaotic childhood. It surfaces in moments when you find yourself vulnerable. Emotional and Physical intimacy with someone else is scary, and in large part, it’s unpredictable. So, what better way to control that than by removing the ability of your partner to touch or move. By only giving pleasure and not receiving.”</p><p> </p><p>“Wow, she … she told you a lot,” Natalie says, rubbing her neck.</p><p> </p><p>Unsure if the heat is anger or embarrassment in having her personal sexual practices uncovered.</p><p> </p><p>“I just, I enjoy giving other people pleasure, that’s all,” Natalie says, defending herself, “it has nothing to do with any of that.”</p><p> </p><p>“I disagree, one of the reasons I had you hold off from sex was because I had a hunch you were using it to cope. I think breaking the symptoms of the problem might help you learn to deal with the issue.”</p><p> </p><p>“So what, you want me to get laid? That’s some real prized doctor work there, Dr. Martin,” Natalie says.</p><p> </p><p>“And we’re deflecting …” Linda says, “and I understand you might feel defensive, but … remember, I’m only trying to help. I wouldn’t be asking you some tough questions if I thought it would hurt more than help.”</p><p> </p><p>Natalie scoffs and crosses her arms again.</p><p> </p><p>“So I think if we can delve into why you only … <em>give </em>pleasure during intimate moments, we might be able to tackle this idea of powerlessness.”</p><p> </p><p>Natalie clears her throat and shifts in her seat, resigned but not happy about it.</p><p> </p><p>“Maze told you all of that?” Natalie asks, annoyed.</p><p> </p><p>“I know you’re probably upset at her, but she was convinced it was something she was doing, and she was afraid that her behavior made you uncomfortable,” Linda says.</p><p> </p><p>“For a demon, she is often more perceptive than we give her credit for,” Linda says, “ineloquent but … perceptive.”</p><p> </p><p>Natalie shakes her head, “It’s not her,” she says, her eyebrows furrowed at the idea, “It’s not her fault.”</p><p> </p><p>“But you can see how that might make someone feel… insecure.”</p><p> </p><p>Natalie chuckles, “Maze doesn’t feel insecure,” she says.</p><p> </p><p>Linda just stares at her.</p><p> </p><p>Natalie’s chuckle falls to a frown.</p><p> </p><p>“Oh,” she says.</p><p> </p><p>“I have a hunch as to why you might choose to not be on the receiving end of things, but do <em>you </em>want to take a shot at it?”</p><p> </p><p>Natalie shrugs and shakes her head, “There’s nothing to talk about. I … sure, I have <em>peculiar </em>tastes. But I find pleasure in other people’s pleasure.”</p><p> </p><p>“Uh-huh,” Linda says not convinced</p><p> </p><p>“I enjoy watching others,” she says, “when they, when I make them …you know.”</p><p> </p><p>“Mm,” Linda says, nodding.</p><p> </p><p>“You don’t believe me?” Natalie says, squinting her eyes.</p><p> </p><p>“Oh, no, I believe <em>you</em> believe that. I believe you find real joy in it, who wouldn’t, right? But I don’t think that is the only reason,” Linda says.</p><p> </p><p>Natalie chuckles and shakes her head.</p><p> </p><p>“There is power in making someone else do something,” Linda says, “In forcing a response. Have you thought that maybe you don’t receive during sex because that would involve giving power to someone else? In <em>willingly</em> letting yourself be vulnerable.”</p><p> </p><p>Natalie scoffs, “That’s ridiculous, and I’m actually really surprised,” she says, “I did not think you would be the one to kink shame,” she says.</p><p> </p><p>“I’m not shaming you,” Linda says, “What I am trying to get you to understand is that your actions have reasonings behind them. And that those reasonings are the result of <em>years </em>of denial and avoidance. Years of lies that you’ve told yourself about something <em>horrible</em> that happened to you. It’s strengthened this idea where whoever has the power, in any form, has control.”</p><p> </p><p>Natalie crosses her arms and looks away. Linda has learned to understand that look.</p><p> </p><p>“The thing about healthy relationships is that it is a give and take, right? We give as much power as we take. So far, your relationships have only been about you taking control and you having power, but what does that leave for your partners?” she asks.</p><p> </p><p>Natalie turns to Linda, an eyebrow raised as if she is trying to figure out what Linda is getting at.</p><p> </p><p>“It leaves them powerless, doesn’t it?” Linda asks.</p><p> </p><p>Natalie shakes her head, “No,“ Natalie says, her eyebrows furrowed.</p><p> </p><p>“It’s a mutual agreement,” Natalie says.</p><p> </p><p>“What happens when they don’t agree?” Linda asks.</p><p> </p><p>Natalie shakes her head, “Then we don’t have sex.”</p><p> </p><p>“Hmm,” Linda says, “So, you would be willing to remove the possibility of <em>any</em> intimate connection with another person if they are unwilling to abide by your rules. Namely, that sex shouldn’t be reciprocal?”</p><p> </p><p>Natalie scoffs and shakes her head. She rolls her eyes and turns to the window with a sigh, “What’s your point?” she says.</p><p> </p><p>Linda can see the walls coming up quickly. She’s guarding herself again.</p><p> </p><p>“My point is that, often times the victims of assault who don’t deal with their trauma, can in turn, become perpetrators of trauma themselves.”</p><p> </p><p>Natalie turns to her, horror in her eyes.</p><p> </p><p>“Now, I don’t think that is what is -” Linda begins.</p><p> </p><p>But Natalie cuts her off, rage pouring through her shock.</p><p> </p><p>“That is not what is happening,” she says.</p><p>Natalie scoffs and crosses her arms again, her leg bouncing in annoyance and frustration.”</p><p> </p><p> “Of course not,” Linda says, seeing she is about to step on a landmine, “but, sex is a beautifully intimate act in a lot of ways. It requires trust and vulnerability in ways that, I believe, you are hiding from because of the latent-”</p><p> </p><p>Natalie rolls her eyes and shakes her head.</p><p> </p><p>“I can’t cum!” Natalie screams, annoyed by this entire conversation.</p><p> </p><p>Linda pauses, her eyes raising and her shoulders dropping.</p><p> </p><p>“What?” she says.</p><p> </p><p>“How’s that for a reason?” Natalie says, pissed off, “I can’t cum, okay? It’s why I don’t <em>receive</em>. I mean yeah, it does often make me uncomfortable, and I don’t like being touched like that. It makes me feel …”</p><p> </p><p>Natalie’s eyes drift off, trying to put a word to the feeling. She shakes her head, unable to come up with something succinct.</p><p> </p><p>“Touched,” she says simply.</p><p> </p><p>Linda nods.</p><p> </p><p>“But I’m capable of pushing that all aside. I’ve done it many times before. I just … I don’t receive because it would be pointless, wouldn’t it? It would just make people feel bad, wouldn’t it?”</p><p> </p><p>Linda just stares at her for a second and closes her eyes before shaking her head, trying to get the look of shock off her face.</p><p> </p><p>When she’s able to pull herself together, she shakes her head, running everything Natalie just said through it. She gets stuck on one thing.</p><p> </p><p>“Wait, you … you find discomfort in being touched, but you do it anyway?”</p><p> </p><p>Natalie nods, “Sex is … as you put, reciprocal. And, when you’re in a relationship, certain things are expected of you. Sex is one of those things.</p><p> </p><p>“But if you can’t achieve orgasm-“ Linda begins.</p><p> </p><p>“I fake it,” Natalie says.</p><p> </p><p>“Wow,” Linda responds.</p><p> </p><p>Natalie scoffs, amused, “I didn’t say it wasn’t fucked up. I just …I learned that people think it’s their fault when you don’t want them to touch you. And it's not. It’s not Liz’s fault or Maze’s fault. It’s … it’s <em>his</em> fault.”</p><p> </p><p>Natalie shakes her head, her eyes moving down to her hands. They fidget in her lap.</p><p> </p><p>“They shouldn’t be punished,” she says.</p><p> </p><p>“So instead, you punish yourself by doing something you don’t want to do?”</p><p> </p><p>Linda stares at her for a while.</p><p> </p><p>“You still think it is your fault,” Linda says as if it was a realization.</p><p> </p><p>A realization that nothing from the last session stuck. Considering the events since then, it made sense, but … <em>nothing</em> stuck. Which can only mean she hasn’t found the root of the problem yet.</p><p> </p><p>Natalie looks at her for a second. That second turns into moments, and those moments turn into silence. Linda can see Natalie wanting to say no, but realizing that it would be a lie.</p><p> </p><p>Linda just stares at her, her eyebrows furrowed. Then, behind that shock comes clarity, and her head turns, her eyes to the window. She stares out at it for a moment before humming and allows her head to slowly tilts up.</p><p> </p><p>“So, let me get this straight,” Linda says, turning to Natalie, “You can’t have an orgasm at all? Or you can’t have an orgasm during sex?”</p><p> </p><p>Natalie grunts then sighs, “I can do it just fine when I’m by myself,” she says, her shoulders bouncing in annoyance and defeat.</p><p> </p><p>“Huh,” Linda says, thinking, “and why haven’t you told Maze this? I’m sure it would have made her feel better.”</p><p> </p><p>Natalie scoffs and shakes her head, “because it hasn’t come up.”</p><p> </p><p>“And if it did, would you fake it?” Linda asks.</p><p> </p><p>Natalie shrugs, “Probably, yeah.”</p><p> </p><p>“Huh,” Linda says.</p><p> </p><p>Natalie shakes her head, “People want to fix things. They want to try and make things work, you know? I just … as much as I am having a very hard time with the whole demon thing …”</p><p> </p><p>Natalie shrugs and fiddles with her hands, “I do like her. She …she’s weird like me. She’s … tough and troubled, like me.”</p><p> </p><p>She raises her eyebrows, a small smile coming to her face, “She’s very kinky, like me.”</p><p> </p><p>She huffs, amused to herself before her smile falls.</p><p> </p><p>“She uhm … she makes me feel not so alone,” Natalie says, tears coming to her eyes, “and I miss her.”</p><p> </p><p>She coughs and clears her throat, her eyes turning to the ceiling in an attempt to dry them quickly.</p><p> </p><p>“The point I was making,” she says, shaking that off, “Is that I don’t want to see her blame herself for something she can’t fix. So yes, it’s not right, or<em> healthy</em> to do what I do, but … what other recourse do I have?”</p><p> </p><p>“You could try therapy,” Linda says.</p><p> </p><p>Natalie chuckles and nods, “yeah, well … I don’t want to watch her blame herself. I had to watch Liz do it and … I have no desire to go through that again. People try to fix me. I can’t watch her do that.”</p><p> </p><p>“Maze isn’t people,” Linda says, tilting her head.</p><p> </p><p>Natalie stares at her for a moment before the tension in her shoulders begins to fade. She takes in a deep breath and lets out an exhausted sigh.</p><p> </p><p>“No, she isn’t,” Natalie says sadly.</p><p> </p><p>Linda nods, understanding.</p><p> </p><p>“Have you always done that?” Linda asks, “because I remember you mention you used to go to bars a lot, to pick up women. Have those all been one-sided encounters?“</p><p> </p><p>“I tried,” Natalie says, “a few times, but … that didn’t work either. In the end, I had to fake it to get them to stop.”</p><p> </p><p>“What happened to just asking them to stop?” Linda says.</p><p> </p><p>Natalie shakes her head, unable to find an answer.</p><p> </p><p>“So you just let them do as they want to you? Even if you don’t want to?”</p><p> </p><p>Natalie doesn’t respond. She just looks down at the ground in shame.</p><p> </p><p>“Is it any wonder why, then, you associate vulnerability with powerlessness?” Linda asks, “I don’t think you truly know how to be vulnerable <em>without</em> being powerless. Without having your voice taken away from you. The ability to say no. I think logically, you understand that, but emotionally you are unable to separate the two. Do you understand what I am saying?</p><p> </p><p>Natalie shakes her head, unsure of where she is going with this.</p><p> </p><p>“Were you not both vulnerable and powerless during your assault?” she asks.</p><p> </p><p>Natalie nods, her arms slacking a little, “I – I guess so, yeah.”</p><p> </p><p>“And you only achieve orgasm when you’re alone,” Linda replies, “when you’re in total control.”</p><p> </p><p>Natalie groans and rolls her eyes.</p><p> </p><p>“I get it, okay? I …I’m a control freak,” she says.</p><p> </p><p>Linda shakes her head, “You … don’t allow yourself to … to relax, not even in intimate relationships, because deep down, you are so afraid of losing power and control because that is <em>exactly </em>how you felt when you were fourteen. Powerless. Out of control.”</p><p> </p><p>Natalie stares at her, Linda can tell she is listening. Processing, but Linda doesn’t let up. Instead, she drives the wedge deeper. Now that she has a foothold on Natalie’s thought process, she needs to fracture it completely.</p><p> </p><p>“Do you ever let you guard down?” Linda says.</p><p> </p><p>Natalie shrugs, “It’s not me being guarded. It’s cautious, there’s a difference.”</p><p> </p><p>“Have you ever-“ Linda begins before pausing and thinking to herself.</p><p> </p><p>“Ah,” she says, it all making sense.</p><p> </p><p>“I hate it when you do that,” Natalie says.</p><p> </p><p>Linda chuckles and nods.</p><p>“Well, for starters, what you have is called situational anorgasmia. Basically, it means that you are unable to achieve orgasm unless certain situational markers have been met. Namely, you’re alone, and you’re doing it yourself.”</p><p> </p><p>“Okay,” Natalie says, that making sense.</p><p> </p><p>“It is a common side effect of … well, what we’ve been dealing with this whole time. Unresolved sexual trauma. You attribute orgasm and release to a negative point in your life. To being vulnerable and powerless, so as a result, you avoid it, subconsciously. Unless, of course, you have absolute control over the situation. Namely when you’re by yourself.”</p><p> </p><p>“Hmm,” Natalie hums, that making sense.</p><p> </p><p>“Which, unfortunately, because you attribute vulnerability to being out of control and the lack of control affects your ability to orgasm, it helps me draw some conclusions about your assault,” Linda continues.</p><p> </p><p>“Okay,” Natalie says, unsure where this is going.</p><p> </p><p>“This is going to be a rather … <em>uncomfortable</em> question, and I don’t want you to feel as though you have to answer it. So, if you don’t want to, don’t. Okay?”</p><p> </p><p>“Okay …,” Natalie says, now starting to get scared of where this might be going.</p><p> </p><p>This build-up seems like a lot.</p><p> </p><p>“But just so you know, if you don’t answer, I’m going to assume it’s a yes.”</p><p> </p><p>“Okay,” Natalie says, her eyes squinting.</p><p> </p><p>Linda pauses, to gather how she wants to ask this question.</p><p> </p><p>“At any point, while you were being assaulted,” she says, being very careful with her words, “did you … experience orgasm?”</p><p> </p><p>Natalie stares at her, that not being the question that she expected. She blinks, the shock in her system, followed quickly by guilt and shame. She turns her eyes to the ground. She closes her eyes, shutting it out.</p><p> </p><p>“Right,” Linda says, a heavy tone in her voice.</p><p> </p><p>“It is … an unfortunate and confusing response to stimulation. It happens to quite a lot of women – and men – that have experienced what you have,” she says, her words slow and methodical.</p><p> </p><p>She thinks more than she should before she says things. Like stepping on stones carefully through a rapid river.</p><p> </p><p>“It must be difficult, especially at a young age, to understand what is happening to you and why it is happening without the added shame and questioning that comes with experiencing a pleasant sensation during something so terrifying and devastating.”</p><p> </p><p>Natalie avoids eye contact. She just stares at the plant on the table by the door. Trying to not feel so unquestionably bare.</p><p> </p><p>“So, I’m sorry that happened to you, but … none of it is your fault,” Linda says.</p><p> </p><p>Natalie tenses her jaw and grimaces as if that stuck a knife in her gut.</p><p> </p><p>“it's easy to tell yourself that you must have brought it on, invited it, or secretly enjoyed it,” Linda says, “because of a response that really isn’t up to you. And I think the core of your problem is deep down, you think you wanted it. Maybe even deserved it.”</p><p> </p><p>Natalie scoffs, still not looking at Linda. Trying to brush that off like Linda hadn’t just unlocked a door and let in the cold, fresh air of reality into a room that was otherwise sweltering and stuffy with the lies she had told herself.</p><p> </p><p>That she deserved it for breaking rules.</p><p> </p><p>That she wanted it.</p><p> </p><p>That she brought it on because she didn’t fight back, or scream, or kick.</p><p> </p><p>That doing nothing meant she wasn’t a victim, but a participant.</p><p> </p><p>“So, it makes sense that you would associate any orgasm in the presence of others with the same orgasm you experience during your assault. If only for the fact that it is brought on by someone else,” Linda says,”</p><p> </p><p>“That you were <em>made</em> to experience that. On some level, you’ve cut yourself off from everything that reminds you of that moment because it is just as confusing then as it is now. Just as painful then as it is now,” Linda continues.</p><p> </p><p>Natalie shuts her eyes, hearing but not wanting to.</p><p> </p><p>“But the reality of coping is that we build up a tolerance to it over time,” Linda continues, “Things that worked for us before, start to no longer work for us. And if we haven’t’ developed the proper tools to truly deal with the trauma, the trauma starts to eat away at us and the life we’ve built. I think that deep down you want help because you realize the control you have is … fake. That your trauma is truly in control. That instead of allowing your assault to be a part of your life that doesn’t define you, you’ve built your life around it. Masking it, coping with it.”</p><p> </p><p>Natalie stares at nothing, listening deeply to what Linda is saying.</p><p> </p><p>“Natalie,” Linda says, drawing Natalie’s attention to her.</p><p> </p><p>Linda waits until Natalie makes eye contact before she continues.</p><p> </p><p>“You’ve allowed it to define you. You want control <em>so</em> much, but you’ve failed to see that you’ve willingly given it up already. That you’ve been allowing your trauma to control you. You’ve been allowing <em>him</em> to control you. Even now.”</p><p> </p><p>Natalie blinks, over and over again, staring at Linda with wide eyes.</p><p>Linda can see something about what she said has landed and has taken up roots in Natalie’s mind.</p><p> </p><p>They sit in silence for a very long time, Linda allowing Natalie to process that.</p><p> </p><p>Natalie wraps her arms around herself tighter, a strange curl to her spine that makes it seem as if she is curling into herself. She visibly makes herself smaller.</p><p> </p><p>When she finally speaks up, it is not Natalie at all that speaks.  At least not the Natalie that Linda has come to know.</p><p> </p><p>Natalie is stubborn and unafraid. She’s curt and evocative with her language.</p><p> </p><p>The voice that speaks is none of these things. It is low, afraid, and unsure.</p><p> </p><p>“I couldn’t stop it,” she says sadly, devastated.</p><p> </p><p>“Of course, you couldn’t. It is a natural response to-“</p><p> </p><p>“My body betrayed me,” Natalie says, “It was the only thing that was mine a - and it betrayed me.”</p><p> </p><p>Linda sighs, empathy in her eyes.</p><p> </p><p>“It’s not your fault,” Linda says.</p><p> </p><p>Natalie scoffs, reaching up to wipe the welling tears in her eyes. It was too early to cry over old wounds.</p><p> </p><p>“Maybe, but that doesn’t make it any better, does it?” Natalie says.</p><p> </p><p>“It does,” Linda says, “because you’re blaming yourself for something you couldn’t control. You’re blaming your body for just doing its job.”</p><p> </p><p>Natalie shakes her head, not wanting to hear it. Not wanting Linda to make excuses for something she should have been able to keep from happening.</p><p> </p><p>“If I tickled you right now and you didn’t want to be tickled, would that stop you from being ticklish?”</p><p> </p><p>“I hate being tickled,” Natalie says, turning her head to Linda.</p><p> </p><p>“Yeah, no shocker there, but answer the question,” Linda says.</p><p> </p><p>Natalie sighs, “No.”</p><p> </p><p>“And if I tickled you without your permission, would that stop you from wanting to laugh?”</p><p> </p><p>Natalie stares at her for a second.</p><p> </p><p>“No,” she says.</p><p> </p><p>“So then is it so farfetched to think that if an <em>extremely</em> sensitive erogenous zone is being stimulated, even if it's not something you want, that eventually you might experience an orgasm?”</p><p> </p><p>Natalie stares at her for a long time. She blinks, that question sitting with her. She furrows her eyebrows, her shoulders unconsciously dropping.</p><p> </p><p>“No,” she finally.</p><p> </p><p>She turns her head to the side, a tension releases from her neck and shoulders as she thinks about that.</p><p> </p><p>“So, do you need me to say it again?” Linda asks.</p><p> </p><p>Natalie turns to her, slowly. Her eyes are tracking, but her mind is churning, “hmm? ” she says as a reaction.</p><p> </p><p>“It’s not your fault,” Linda says.</p><p> </p><p>Natalie stares at Linda for a few moments, then she huffs, her eyes welling with tears and a relieved small smile coming to her face.</p><p> </p><p>“You believe me now,” Linda says, more of a statement than a question.</p><p> </p><p>Natalie nods, her smile slowly scrunching into the beginning of a cry. She brings a hand up to her mouth to hold it off, but she can't. She covers her face with her hands, her shoulders lurching silently through a subdued weep.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>--</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Inside of an empty white room, an impeccably dressed Lucifer sits at a piano. A glass of whiskey sits on top of the piano, with a smoking cigarette in an ashtray.</p><p> </p><p>“Like a river flows, surely to the sea. Darling so it goes, some things are meant to be,” he sings.</p><p> </p><p>He closes his eyes, his head leaning to the side, a small yet sad smile on his face.</p><p> </p><p>“Take my hand, take whole life too,” he continues singing, “For I can't help falling in love with you.”</p><p> </p><p>“For I can’t help falling in love with-“ he opens his eyes, then they narrow, and he sighs.</p><p> </p><p>“Must you interrupt me, Father?” he asks before turning around to see God standing behind him.</p><p> </p><p>“Are you enjoying yourself?” God asks.</p><p> </p><p>Lucifer scoffs and turns to his glass. He grabs it before standing and turning to face God.</p><p> </p><p>“How can I? At least hell is more entertaining than this place. I’m starting to feel this is more a punishment than some great plan of yours.”</p><p> </p><p>God chuckles and shakes his head.</p><p> </p><p>“Yes, laugh it up. My eternal boredom is a joke,” Lucifer says, “ I thought you wanted me to go back to Hell?”</p><p> </p><p>God shakes his head, “I don’t believe I ever used those words.”</p><p> </p><p>“But you didn’t correct me,” Lucifer says.</p><p> </p><p>“I’ve learned long ago there was no point in doing that. You believe what you want to believe.”</p><p> </p><p>Lucifer scoffs and takes a sip of his drink.</p><p> </p><p>“Now, are you ready for your final task?” God asks.</p><p> </p><p>“I don’t know, I suppose so. Except if it isn’t running hell or running my own universe, I’m …dare I say, terrified to learn what it is.”</p><p> </p><p>God shakes his head, a relaxed smile on his face.</p><p> </p><p>“Why didn’t you just tell me from the start that I was meant to lead my own universe? That would have solved everything. No rebellion. No … demon legion. No mom in her own universe.”</p><p> </p><p>God’s smile lowers to a soft frown. He nods to himself.</p><p> </p><p>“The nature of existence is about balance, Lucifer,” he says, “the truth is that there is as much light within us as there is dark. You’ve seen it, you know what that looks like. ”</p><p> </p><p>“Ezria,” Lucifer says.</p><p> </p><p>God nods.</p><p> </p><p> “If I would have given you your own universe from the beginning, it would not have succeeded. Without the hurt and pleasure, without the love and hate. Without experiencing death and creating life …then your universe might not have made it. It still might not, but at least this way it has a better chance. We’ve worked too hard for that to happen.”</p><p> </p><p>“Okay, but you could have just …<em>given </em>me that knowledge,” Lucifer says, “you’re God and all.”</p><p> </p><p>God shakes his head, “Experiences, Lucifer. They are much more powerful than you think.”</p><p> </p><p>“Still, you could have given me<em> some</em> clue,” he says.</p><p> </p><p>God shakes his head, “There is darkness,” he says, “it … bleeds and listens like any other creature. It hears our words and feels our heartbeats.”</p><p> </p><p>Lucifer narrows his eyes.</p><p> </p><p>“In the beginning,” God says, “the darkness was small, unmoving. It had nothing to challenge it, nothing to learn from. But then, suddenly, there was.”</p><p> </p><p>The white room disappears, and Lucifer is left standing inside of an endless pitch-black room. Then, light appears, like in his vision before. It stretches across the universe, forming pools of rolling and moving darkness at its edges.</p><p> </p><p>“The darkness isn’t a thought, Lucifer,” God says, watching the fight between life and death at the edges of the universe, “It is … as real as anything you can imagine.  And each universe it gets smarter and stronger. Its desire is to prevent existence, not create one. To inject chaos into order. Thus, with each universe, our plans must change.”</p><p> </p><p>“So you trick it into making new worlds? New people? That hardly seems like free will.”</p><p> </p><p>“It is the only will that must never be free,” God says, “Its interest is the opposite of ours. If it gets its way, everything and everyone will cease to be.”</p><p> </p><p>“Okay,” Lucifer says, starting to gauge the severity of this task.</p><p> </p><p>“There were many gods before you who have made mistakes. Who spoke of their plan openly or allowed the darkness to take some foothold. Their universes were destroyed. Lost forever to the darkness.”</p><p> </p><p>Lucifer furrows his eyebrows, slowly starting to understand.</p><p> </p><p>“That is a war we cannot risk. If I put you in your own universe and you fail … then you are lost to the void. You become apart of it, and everything we have done here will be for naught. Do you understand?” he asks.</p><p> </p><p>Lucifer nods.</p><p> </p><p>“So … the void is real?” he asks, “it’s isn’t just an absence of existing, it’s …”</p><p> </p><p>“Non-existence itself, yes.”</p><p> </p><p>Lucifer shakes his head, “Why didn’t you tell me? I could have … I could have kept demons from sending each other there. From fueling it!”</p><p> </p><p>“Because we must have balance. As much as it is something we do not seek to have space within our worlds, it must always have a place. It must always be used to counterbalance.”</p><p> </p><p>Lucifer shakes his head, “That … it just doesn’t make sense. You’re God. This is <em>your</em> universe.”</p><p> </p><p>“Being who we are is not an easy task,” God says, “You will have to make some difficult choices, one’s that will be hard to justify without revealing your plan. Those you create will hate you.  The mortals you make will suffer, and those that deserve to suffer might not. No one will ever understand why it is you do the things you do.  Even your own children will grow to resent you,” he says.</p><p> </p><p>Lucifer lowers his head, suddenly questioning everything he’s ever done.</p><p> </p><p>“They will question you,” God continues, “and oftentimes, you will question yourself. But you must never allow yourself to second guess for long. Because the darkness will feel you, it will inject doubt into your mind, and an uncertain God is a dangerous God.”</p><p> </p><p>“Father, I-“ Lucifer begins.</p><p> </p><p>“I understand,” God says, keeping him from speaking, “You were cross with me before you understood. Perspective is a strange thing.”</p><p> </p><p>Lucifer nods.</p><p> </p><p>God sighs and nods, “Either way. There is darkness within us all. This darkness is cosmic and holds together every fabric of existence we know of. You will need to fight it when you create your own universe. In the very beginning, it will be a war of wits, and you must outplay it at every turn.”</p><p> </p><p>Suddenly the fight between light and dark that surrounds them bursts into matter and light and substance, and they are standing on the balcony of the observatory. The one where Lucifer created the stars. Or rather, a memory of this place.</p><p> </p><p>Lucifer looks out into the stars, a serious look on his face.</p><p> </p><p>“Was he ever real?” Lucifer asks, turning to God, “Ezria.”</p><p> </p><p>God nods.</p><p> </p><p>“He was, before he opened the ark,” God says.</p><p> </p><p>“The thing that showed up at my penthouse?” he asks.</p><p> </p><p>God nods.</p><p> </p><p>“Ezria was my son too. He experienced joy and hurt. He experienced love, acceptance, and all the things I wish for my children. But in the end, he was always a carrier. Always destined to assist you in your task,” God says, “but that does not mean he was never loved and cared for.”</p><p> </p><p>Lucifer scoffs, “I locked him in a bloody cage just for doing what you asked,” he says before pausing and turning to God.</p><p> </p><p>“You lied to us,” he says as if suddenly remembering all the things he should be pissed about.</p><p> </p><p>God nods, “I did what I had to do.”</p><p> </p><p>Lucifer scoffs.</p><p> </p><p>“Well, in my universe, there will be none of that,” he says.</p><p> </p><p>God smiles and nods, “How do you know that when you’ve yet to come up with a plan?” he asks.</p><p> </p><p>Lucifer turns to God.</p><p> </p><p>“A plan?”</p><p> </p><p>“The darkness is smart. It will not be tricked the same way into creating life. You must come up with something that will use its power and strength to create a new world. A new creator.”</p><p> </p><p>“Is there an original? An original God?” Lucifer asks.</p><p> </p><p>God nods, “there is a being who fought back the darkness when it was in its infancy. Who dared to think the question of <em>‘what if’</em> into existence. But it is far removed from us. “</p><p> </p><p>“What number are you?” Lucifer asks.</p><p> </p><p>God pauses and thinks for a moment as if running through the numbers.</p><p> </p><p>Lucifer waits. The longer he waits, the more his shoulders drop and his eyebrows furrow.</p><p> </p><p>“That many?” he asks, surprised.</p><p> </p><p>God doesn’t respond. He just continues counting.</p><p> </p><p>“One million, three hundred and eighty-seven thousand, one hundred and sixty-eight,” he says finally.</p><p> </p><p>“Wow,” Lucifer says.</p><p> </p><p>God hums and nods.</p><p> </p><p>“Now,” God says, wiping his hand and allow the view of the observatory to disappear. Lucifer is back into his white room.</p><p> </p><p>He looks around, upset.</p><p> </p><p>“I must be off to complete a few small tasks. Perhaps it might be best you begin working on your plan? I’ve created this pocket universe just for you. It is the only place safe from the darkness’s prying eyes. Perfect place to work out the details of your universe, don’t you think?”</p><p> </p><p>Lucifer looks around the white room and sighs, “Hardly.”</p><p> </p><p>“You have full control here, Lucifer. If you don’t like your surroundings, change them.”</p><p> </p><p>Lucifer looks around for a moment, unsure of what he wants to change it to. It could be anything.</p><p> </p><p>“Think. Where would you like to be more than anything, right now?” he asks.</p><p> </p><p>Lucifer pauses, his mind going to one place.</p><p> </p><p>“Will it,” God says.</p><p> </p><p>Suddenly the white room disappears and is replaced with the empty and silent bullpen of the precinct. Lucifer sits in his chair by Chloe’s desk, a cup of freshly brewed coffee on her desk.</p><p> </p><p>Still, there is no detective to be found. No one, in fact.  Just him and God.</p><p> </p><p>“Unfortunately, willing beings into existence takes a little more divine energy than you have right now, but … everything else will do.”</p><p> </p><p>Lucifer sighs, his hands reaching forward to cup around the warm coffee. He images her fingers were there.</p><p> </p><p>He sighs as if realizing he was alone. As if realizing he might forever be alone.</p><p> </p><p>He holds back his tears, choosing instead to focus on the warmth of the coffee. On imagining, it was the touch of her hand on his.</p><p> </p><p>“Ths darkness will be more cunning, smarter this time,” God says, “so two babies, two blades thing will no longer work.”</p><p> </p><p>Lucifer scoffs at the idea, finding comfort in his snark.</p><p> </p><p>“I’ll leave you to it,” God says.</p><p> </p><p>“Wait!” Lucifer says, sitting up.</p><p> </p><p>God turns to him.</p><p> </p><p>“If you don’t mind me asking, how did you become God?”</p><p> </p><p>God smiles, “Truthfully?”</p><p> </p><p>Lucifer nods.</p><p> </p><p>“I went swimming.”</p><p> </p><p>God disappears, and Lucifer is left alone. He sighs and turns his eyes back to the cup of coffee on Chloe’s desk. Or what should be her desk, but even now he can tell it isn’t. It’s a knockoff fueled by his memory and his memory alone.</p><p> </p><p>Suddenly he scoffs and shakes his head, “Swimming. What a boring way to do it,” he says.</p><p> </p><p>He looks around for a moment before his eyes land on the conference room. He narrows his eyes and stands before approaching it and swinging the door open. He enters and looks around before pausing.</p><p> </p><p>He thinks about what he might need to do this. Maybe whiteboards?</p><p> </p><p>Suddenly three empty rolling whiteboards appear in front of him.</p><p> </p><p>He huffs, astonished, and amused.</p><p> </p><p>He brings his hand up, stares at it for a moment before a black marker suddenly appears in it.</p><p> </p><p>He huffs, astonished, and amused.</p><p> </p><p>“Right,” he says, slipping his jacket off and tossing it onto the table.</p><p> </p><p>“Let’s give the old man a run for his divine money, yes?” he says, uncapping the marker.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>--</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>In her bedroom, a nude Ella lays flat on her stomach. The hand on her back presses her into the bed. Her body rocks, and her skin ripples through each of Abel’s pumps. He straddles her, his weight partly pressing onto her back, as he groans through each push and pull.</p><p> </p><p>Ella reaches a hand behind her and holds onto one of his legs, pulling him close and keeping him there.</p><p> </p><p>He pants loudly, flesh slapping against her ass before she tenses, pushes back against him, and keens through an orgasm. Seconds later, he follows her, pushing through each spurt of his own orgasm. Then, he collapses on top of her, sweaty skin against sweaty skin. They pant together as he rolls his hips. She reaches back and holds a hand onto his ass.</p><p> </p><p>He pushes himself far into her, and she moans from the added pressure of his body. Then he turns her head and plants a chaste kiss on her lips before pulling away from her.</p><p> </p><p>“Good Morning,” she huffs, a satiated smile on her face.</p><p> </p><p>He smacks her ass before standing and ripping the condom off of him.</p><p> </p><p>“Good Morning to you too,” he chuckles.</p><p> </p><p>She flips over onto her back, still panting, and sets a hand on her stomach.</p><p> </p><p>“I love morning sex,” she says.</p><p> </p><p>He nods and smiles before climbing onto the bed and lying down next to her.</p><p> </p><p>“and I love <em>you</em>,” he says, leaning over to kiss her.</p><p> </p><p>She grins at him before turning her eyes to the clock.</p><p> </p><p>She groans and sits up on the bed.</p><p> </p><p>“I really need to get ready for work now,” she says, a hand of his coming to lay on the small of her back.</p><p> </p><p>“Oh, come on,” he says, “just lay with me a few more minutes. You can’t just hit it and leave. I’m much more than a sexual object Ms. Lopez.”</p><p> </p><p>She scoffs, amused, and gets off the bed.</p><p> </p><p>“You’re going to make me late. Again,” she says before walking naked out the door and into the bathroom.</p><p> </p><p>He chuckles.</p><p> </p><p>“Then be late!” he yells after her.</p><p> </p><p>“No!” she responds, seconds before the shower cuts on.</p><p> </p><p>He lets go of a content sigh, a smile permanently chiseled on his face. One hand comes up to fold behind his head, the other rests on his stomach.</p><p> </p><p>“How are you enjoying your new life?” he hears.</p><p> </p><p>Abel quickly bolts up in the bed and sees God standing in the doorway. Abel scurries to his knees on the bed. He places a pillow in front of his non-erect, but happily swollen penis.</p><p> </p><p>“Wha- How- How long have you been there?” he asks, embarrassment and shock on his face.</p><p> </p><p>“Would it make you feel better to know I have no interest in peering into your intimate affairs?” God asks.</p><p> </p><p>“But you did, didn’t you?” Abel responds.</p><p> </p><p>“I am all-knowing. I see everything that ever was or will be. That doesn’t mean I want to see it or that it is nothing I haven’t seen before.”</p><p> </p><p>Abel narrows his eyes at God.</p><p> </p><p>“I am glad to see you taking so keenly to your new life,” God says, “you’ve earned it.”</p><p> </p><p>“Is this why you haven’t given me a task? So, you can watch me and Ms. Lopez fornicate?” Abel says, upset.</p><p> </p><p>God chuckles and shakes his head, “Not at all. If you could only imagine the number of people who are still having sex at this exact moment, you too would be unmoved. Not that your performance wasn’t acceptable. I’m sure she felt-“</p><p> </p><p>“Okay,” Abel says, holding his hands out, not wanting to have this conversation, but sure he needs to get God out of Ella’s apartment before she ends her shower.</p><p> </p><p>She would <em>really </em>be late then.</p><p> </p><p>“What do you want? What are you doing here? I’m not going to do anything that gets me ripped apart the universe again if that is the case. And-and nothing that would put Ms. Lopez in harm's way.”</p><p> </p><p>God smiles and shakes his head, “I’m not here to give you a task, Abel,” he says.</p><p> </p><p>Abel pauses, suspicion forming on his face.</p><p> </p><p>“Then, why are you here?”</p><p> </p><p>“I came to make sure you are aware that you have no task,” God says.</p><p> </p><p>Abel scoffs, “Yeah, I think I clued into that about two years ago.”</p><p> </p><p>“Yet you make yourself a priest and serve those who claim me,” God replies.</p><p> </p><p>Abel shakes his head, “I’m just … doing what I can to keep them from going to hell. I’ve been there, and I don’t - I don’t want anyone else to go there too. Not if they can help it.”</p><p> </p><p>“You’ve spent all your lives in the service of others instead of doing something that you desire,” God says, “I just want to make sure you understand that this life is your own and you should live it how you see fit. Not for my benefit, but for yours.”</p><p> </p><p>“Not true, I <em>desired</em> revenge,” Abel says.</p><p> </p><p>“Did you?” God asks, “or did you desire to be free from hell? If you were given the option of revenge without freedom, would you have taken it?”</p><p> </p><p>Abel pauses, his shoulders going lax as he thinks about it.</p><p> </p><p>“I … I suppose not,” he blinks, wondering if he had indeed never chosen.</p><p> </p><p>Then, fear crawls into his heart.</p><p> </p><p>“Ms. Lopez?” he asks.</p><p> </p><p>The shower turns off, and wet feet thump onto a rug covered tile.</p><p> </p><p>God smiles, “That, and what you choose to do with it, has always and will always be up to you.”</p><p> </p><p>Abel sighs, relieved to know she wasn’t some plan or manipulation.</p><p> </p><p>He looks down at his hands as they begin to nervously fiddle with each other, his eyebrows furrowed.</p><p> </p><p>“Does she love -“ he begins to ask, but when he looks up, God is gone.</p><p> </p><p>He blinks, wondering if that was real.</p><p> </p><p>Seconds later, Ella scurries into the room and shuts the door. She turns, and yelps as Abel is still on the bed.</p><p> </p><p>He looks at her oddly.</p><p> </p><p>“I thought I heard you talking to someone,” she says, opening the door and peeping into the living room.</p><p> </p><p>“I was,” he says.</p><p> </p><p>“Who?” she asks, undoing the towels and drying off her arms.</p><p> </p><p>“God,” Abel says.</p><p> </p><p>Ella smiles and bends down to dry her legs. Then she pauses and looks up at him.</p><p> </p><p>“Like praying or having a conversation?”</p><p> </p><p>“Conversation,” Abel says.</p><p> </p><p>She pauses then wraps the towel around her before approaching him and looking around the room.</p><p> </p><p>“Did he see us? How long has he been here?”</p><p> </p><p>Abel chuckles and pulls her close before kissing her nude shoulders.</p><p> </p><p>“I asked him the same thing,” he says.</p><p> </p><p>“And?”</p><p> </p><p>“Ella, he’s all-knowing. You can’t imagine how many people he’s seen have sex. I’m sure nothing we have done surprises him.”</p><p> </p><p>She wraps the towel around herself and shrinks into his arms.</p><p> </p><p>“Doesn’t make it any less weird to know God is watching you … <em>do stuff</em>.”</p><p> </p><p>“Our sex life seems low on his priority list,” Abel laughs.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>--</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>It’s still early morning, but Chloe is already at her desk and finishing up a report on her last case. She is diligently writing notes on the last page of a report when a thick envelope is slammed onto her desk. She jolts backward before looking up to see Maze standing there.</p><p> </p><p>Maze nods towards the envelope.</p><p> </p><p>“It’s all there, you can count it if you want,” she says, her arms crossed.</p><p> </p><p>“Maze!” Chloe says, holding her chest, “You scared the crap out of me.”</p><p> </p><p>Maze scoffs, “You’re tight wound this morning, what’s up?”</p><p> </p><p>“Nothing, I just … I wasn’t expecting you,” she says, setting her pen down and picking up the envelope.</p><p> </p><p> “What is this?”</p><p> </p><p>Chloe opens the envelope to be met with a fat stack of cash. Her eyebrows raise, and she turns to Maze.</p><p> </p><p>“What <em>is</em> this?” she asks.</p><p> </p><p>“First month’s rent,” she says, “you can count it if you want.”</p><p> </p><p>Chloe scoffs and shoves the envelope back towards Maze.</p><p> </p><p>“I told you, I don’t want rent for the penthouse. Do whatever you want with it.”</p><p> </p><p>Maze furrows her eyebrows, “You sure? I figured since you own the place now its-“</p><p> </p><p>“It’s not mine,” Chloe says, “it’s all of ours.”</p><p> </p><p>“Who’s name is on the lease?” Maze says, trying to get Chloe to come to terms with the fact that she is a club owner now.</p><p> </p><p>“You, me, and Amenadiel. It’s as much your place as mine,” she says, going back to her file.</p><p> </p><p>Maze stands there for a second as if she didn’t know her name was on the lease.</p><p> </p><p>“Really?” she asks, “he … he put my name on the lease?”</p><p> </p><p>“Don't ask me how he did it, but …I’m certain he had some help.”</p><p> </p><p>Maze smiles a little then takes the envelope back.</p><p> </p><p>“Well, in that case. I have some toys I want to buy,” she grins.</p><p> </p><p>Chloe shakes her head, “and there she is.”</p><p> </p><p>Maze smiles and turns her head to Natalie’s office. The office door is closed and the blinds are drawn. Her smile slowly falls, and sadness pools behind her eyes. Chloe looks up and catches it.</p><p> </p><p>“So uh, how’s are you hanging in there?” Chloe says, “have you been going to Linda?”</p><p> </p><p>Maze turns to her and nods, shuffling on her feet. She had that feeling in her chest again, the one that makes her cry. The one that feels like she can’t breathe. The one she’s had for two weeks now and doesn’t seem to be going away.</p><p> </p><p>“How are you?” Chloe asks.</p><p> </p><p>Maze shakes her head, her eyes down on to the ground.</p><p> </p><p>“Use your chart,” Chloe says.</p><p> </p><p>Maze grunts and shakes her head.</p><p> </p><p>“Maze,” she says sternly.</p><p> </p><p>Maze growls and reaches into the back pocket of her tight leather pants. She pulls out a folded laminated sheet and opens it up. Here, faces of varying colors and moods align in a grid. She looks around the chart for the one she is feeling and rolls her eyes before turning the paper to Chloe.</p><p> </p><p>She points at the blue face with the frown. The one that reads, “Sad,” beneath it.</p><p> </p><p>Chloe sighs and nods, “yeah … me too,” she says.</p><p> </p><p>Maze tilts her head as Chloe’s eyes go distant.</p><p> </p><p>“Sometimes I … I smell his cologne,” she says, her eye starting to water, “and I – for a brief second- I think he might be there. But then my brain kicks in, and I just feel …”</p><p> </p><p>“Sad,” Maze says.</p><p> </p><p>Chloe nods then chuckles before wiping her eyes and picking up her pen.</p><p> </p><p>“It’s stupid, really. I shouldn’t be. He … he’s someplace better. I know that sounds cliché, but at least I know where he is this time. At least I know he’s okay.”</p><p> </p><p>Maze nods and turns to Natalie’s closed office.</p><p> </p><p>“What about you?” Chloe asks, nodding towards Natalie’s office, “how are things with-“</p><p> </p><p>“They aren’t,” Maze says angrily, shoving the page back into her pants, “I have to go.”</p><p> </p><p>“Maze,” Chloe says, calling after her, but Maze books it towards the steps and doesn’t look back.</p><p> </p><p>Chloe sighs and shakes her head before going back to her report.</p><p> </p><p>She writes, trying to keep her mind off the obvious. Her eyes move up as she sees Ella walk happily past her desk, a bounce in her step. She tilts her head, curious.</p><p> </p><p>“Good Morning, Ella,” she says.</p><p> </p><p>Ella turns to her with a smile, “Good Morning!”</p><p> </p><p>Chloe narrows her eyes and scoots away from her desk, following a bouncy Ella into her lab.</p><p> </p><p>“What is this? Why are you so happy?” Chloe asks.</p><p> </p><p>Ella sets her backpack on her lab table and taps her computer awake.</p><p> </p><p>“Oh nothing, just a little bit of morning sex,” she winks.</p><p> </p><p>“Oh,” Chloe says, raising her eyes, “Yeah, that will do it. I take it things with you and Abel are good.”</p><p> </p><p>“Good?” Ella says, opening a drawer beneath the desk behind her and pulling out a cardboard box.</p><p> </p><p>“It’s going great! He’s like part Neanderthal,” she says, turning and setting the box on the lab table, “and part gentleman. I get angry at him for saying stupid shit and then … well, then he makes it up to me.”</p><p> </p><p>Ella blushes, a smile on her face at the idea. Chloe crosses her arms and nods. It sounded like Lucifer.</p><p> </p><p>“Yeah,” she says, sadly, “ that uhm … that’s great, Ella. I’m really happy for you.”</p><p> </p><p>Ella sees Chloe’s drop in disposition and pauses.</p><p> </p><p>“Oh, I … I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to –“</p><p> </p><p>“No, it’s fine, it’s just been rough, you know? It will all sort itself out.”</p><p> </p><p>Ella nods, unconvinced.</p><p> </p><p>“How are things with you and Jack? Still hasn’t texted you back?”</p><p> </p><p>Chloe scoffs, “Oh, I gave up on that a week ago. I mean, I get it … you just learn that God and hell are real things, but that’s no excuse to ghost somebody. Especially when I’m just as human as he is.”</p><p> </p><p>Ella nods, “It’s probably for the better. I didn’t really like that guy anyway.”</p><p> </p><p>Chloe narrows her eyes, “Why does everyone say that?”</p><p> </p><p>Ella smiles and shakes her head, “Besides, whoever you pick has to be able to handle that. Abel is Abel. Amenadiel is an Angel, Maze is a demon and your ex is the devil. If they can’t accept that they aren’t worth it.”</p><p> </p><p>Chloe sighs and nods, “Yeah, yeah, you’re probably right. That and we have a hellhound as a family pet.”</p><p> </p><p>“Oh, how is Trixie holding up?” Ella says, “she still totally cool with everything?”</p><p> </p><p>Chloe nods, surprised, “Yeah I … honestly didn’t have to explain too much to her. Apparently, when the devil tells you he is the devil and you’re only eight years old … you believe him.”</p><p> </p><p>Ella shakes her head and smiles, “God, that kid is cool.”</p><p> </p><p>Chloe nods, pleased, “Yeah, she’s growing up to be … be a cool kid.”</p><p> </p><p>Chloe suddenly reaches for her pocket and pulls out her phone, “That reminds me. Maze says she was going to stop by later. Her and Trixie have some game thing to do.”</p><p> </p><p>“How is Maze?” Ella asks, “I saw her on her way out, and she didn’t seem ... well, she seemed fine, but you know how that goes.”</p><p> </p><p>Chloe nods, “She’s having a hard time. Have you spoken to the Lieutenant?”</p><p> </p><p>Ella shakes her head, “She’s been M.I.A. I know she is here because work is getting done, but ..”</p><p> </p><p>Ella waves to the closed blinds of Natalie’s office, “Hard to tell. Can’t just walk in and be like ‘ Hey boss, let's talk about demons and God.’”</p><p> </p><p>Chloe nods, “Yeah. Yeah, it’s one big crapshoot over here. I don’t know what is worst, seeing Lucifer stab himself into a ring or having to deal with the fallout.”</p><p> </p><p>“Oh, this for sure,” Ella says, typing in her information into the computer, “What about Jillian? How is she holding up?”</p><p> </p><p>“Uhm,” Chloe sighs, leaning on the table, “Dan says she’s taking it a day at a time. She seems to be ... okay.”</p><p> </p><p>“That’s good, “Ella says, “Now we just have to deal with a demon and an incredibly stubborn human.”</p><p> </p><p>Chloe chuckles and nods.</p><p> </p><p>“Yeah, easier said than done,” Chloe says, sighing and allowing her mind to drift.</p><p> </p><p>Ella opens her mouth to say something when they hear clapping in the large meeting room next to the lab. They turn their eyes to see a small group of people clapping as an officer takes a photo off of a corkboard in the middle of the room.</p><p> </p><p>“Looks like they finished the final missing person’s report from that night,” Chloe says.</p><p> </p><p>Ella nods, “Well, at least the high profile ones. We still have tons of people missing,” Ella sighs, turning to the cardboard box and pulling out evidence bags.</p><p> </p><p>Chloe nods.</p><p> </p><p>“One day at a time, I suppose,” Chloe says, leaning off the lab desk.</p><p> </p><p>Ella nods.</p><p> </p><p>“Alright, lunch later?” she asks, walking away.</p><p> </p><p> “Yeah, but can I pick this time? I’m tired of burgers and fries!” Ella responds.</p><p> </p><p>Chloe waves her off and heads back to her desk.</p><p> </p><p>The group exits the conference room, patting each other on the back. The door slowly closes as Chloe sits by her desk. She scoots her chair up to the desk then pauses as a familiar scent hits her nostrils.</p><p> </p><p>It smells like his cologne. She turns to look around, verifying that he isn’t there. She would feel stupid if he was, and she hadn’t known.</p><p> </p><p>She sighs and nods when there is nothing. Her eyes fall into the conference room, and she tilts her head. Something strange calls her. She looks around before standing up and slowly making her way over to the door. Then she pulls it open and steps inside.</p><p> </p><p>His cologne is strong here and warm as if he were standing next to her. She closes her eyes and breathes it in.</p><p> </p><p>“Lucifer?” she says, her voice low.</p><p> </p><p>She doesn’t get a response. Of course, she doesn’t get a response. Still, she can smell him.</p><p> </p><p>“I … I know I should be happy that you’re …well, doing what you’re supposed to do. That you’re safe and okay, but…”</p><p> </p><p>She looks around, stepping forward slightly as if there were a thin wall between them, and all she had to do was punch through it. Still, there is nothing. She turns and stares at the empty corkboard.</p><p> </p><p>“I miss you,” she says sadly.</p><p> </p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Chapter 2</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <strong>--</strong>
</p>
<p>
  
</p>
<p>
  
</p>
<p>Amenadiel stands in the empty guest room of Linda’s home. His clothing, a simple t-shirt and jeans, is covered in paint. As are his arms and a small streak of grey on his face. He sets the paint roller into the paint tray and steps back to look at his work.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>The room is painted, finally, and now he can bring in his furniture. He thought about making a home office, but what would he do there? So instead, he opted for a simple lounge room. A place he could go to relax and possibly invite a few of his siblings to discuss the affairs of the world.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>He nods, pleased with this development.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Excellent color choice,” he hears before turning around to see God standing in the open doorway.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>God enters and looks around.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Father,” Amenadiel says, his hands falling to his side, “What- what are you doing here?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Very clean lines,” God says, “as usual, your work is impeccable.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Amenadiel narrows his eyes as he watches God. God turns to him, and they sit in silence for a while.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“I’m not here to upset your life, son,” God says.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Amenadiel crosses his arms, “You never visit earth unless it is something important. I don’t think it odd to be suspicious of your intentions.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Ah,” God says, holding a hand out, “that was before my task was done. Well, close to being done. Now that it’s almost over, I find myself with … well more interest in the way mortals operate. I don’t have to focus on paths or prepare for the future. Now, I just wait.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Amenadiel looks at him oddly, “So what do I have to do with this?” he asks.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Nothing, I’ve only come to admire the life you’ve developed for yourself.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Uh-huh,” Amenadiel says, “Father, if you have a task for me, just give it to me. You don’t have to pretend to care about my earthly matters.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“That’s just it, Amenadiel,” God says, stepping forward, “Your next task is an earthly matter.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Amenadiel looks at him suspiciously, wary.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>God chuckles and shakes his head.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“It was my intention to … prevent mixing of the lines, so to speak. I needed it. So that Lucifer might experience all manners of being. As earth as it is in heaven, so to speak.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“and now?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Well, and now I find myself excited by the prospect of something new. Beings with free will <em>and</em> divinity.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“A Nephilim?” Amenadiel asks, his eyebrows furrowed, “but that’s impossible. And-and you’ve forbidden-“</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Can one not change their mind, Amenadiel?” God says.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Amenadiel stares at God for a moment then nods.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“I see,” he says, “So what would you like me to do? I don’t think the mortals would respond well to forming an angel-human brothel of sorts.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>God chuckles and shakes his head, “No, no. All good things come with patience, Amenadiel. And I seem to find myself with an overabundance of time. I believe I will start small, singular. Perhaps with <em>one</em> angel.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Amenadiel nods then pauses.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“So, what would you like me to do?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>God approaches Amenadiel and lays a hand on his shoulder. He smiles at him.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“You want to know why you are my favorite?” God asks.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Amenadiel nods, “because I follow your orders blindly,” he says, slight shame in that.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>But how is he supposed to go against the word of God?</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“No,” he says with a smile, “because you … are my second greatest plan.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Amenadiel furrows his eyebrows.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“What?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>God removes his hands and turns back to the door. He exhales a pleased sigh before turning back to Amenadiel.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“I believe I’m quite excited for this new chapter. You will make an excellent Father,” God says.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Amenadiel smiles and nods as God turns a corner and leaves.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>He smiles, pleased at the compliment before it dawns on him what he’s said. He furrows his eyebrows and turns back to the door.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Wait, what?!”</p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p>--</p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p>A flustered Natalie walks quickly down the steps to the bullpen. Her eyes stay on a swivel before landing on the door to her office. She approaches it, tunnel-visioned, and with her folded jacket hanging over her arms. Chloe looks up from her desk just as she passes.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Natalie’s clothing seems as it normally is. The black skirt that hugs her form, the one that starts at her navel and ends just below her knees, looks recently pressed. Her sleeveless gold blouse waves loosely in the wind created by her fast movement. It sends a trail of lemon and lavender behind her. But the jacket in her hand looks wrinkled, and the run in her stockings that started at the ankles has spread to the back of her calves.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Natalie opens the door and slips into her office with little fanfare. She closes the door, but not fully, opting to leave it slightly ajar.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Chloe closes the file on her desk and scoots back in her chair.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Inside her office, Natalie sets her jacket on top of the file cabinet. Then, she turns to sit in her chair just as there is a knock on the door.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Come in,” she says, plopping down in her seat and pulling herself close to her desk.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Chloe pokes her head in, and Natalie pauses, like a deer caught in headlights.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Just finished the report on the Donaldson case. Ella said she already sent you the blood spatter report, but I went ahead and put a copy of it in there anyway. Just in case,” she says, approaching Natalie’s desk.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>She holds the file out.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Natalie pauses, looks down at the file, and reluctantly reaches out and grabs it.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Thanks,” she says, opening the file and reading over it.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Chloe stands there, watching Natalie read over the file. She turns back to the open door and clears her throat.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>She turns to view the rest of the office and notices the addition of a blue couch. She furrows her eyebrows before her eyes land on a single pillow that sits on top of a folded blanket.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>She nods to herself before turning back to Natalie.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“So uh-“</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Everything looks good,” Natalie says, signing off on the file.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>She closes it and sets it onto the basket on the right of her desk.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Excellent job,” she continues.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Natalie turns and reaches out to the purse on her desk. Here she rummages through it for her desk keys.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Chloe fiddles with her fingers, coming up with the nerve to say something.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“So uh,” she says, “We haven’t really gotten a chance to talk since you know … that whole thing.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Natalie pauses for a second before going back to rummaging through her bag.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“We’ve been trying to give you space, but … it’s been two weeks now. How are you holding up?” Chloe asks.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Natalie turns her eyes to Chloe and looks her over as if feeling her out. Her shoulders relax a little.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Fine,” she says, “I’ve just been … busy.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Mmm,” Chloe says, “and the fact that you’re sleeping in your office is totally okay.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Natalie pauses and again turns to Chloe. Chloe nods to the pillow and blanket on the couch. Natalie sees it and sighs.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“I … I thought that sleeping here would save time from my commute. You know, especially with all those missing person cases. “</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Mmm,” Chloe says, nodding, not convinced.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Natalie finds her keys and pulls it out of her bag. She sets the bag down on the desk then fiddles with the keys before finding the right key.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>She moves to put the key into the desk, but her hands are trembling, so it takes a little longer than usual.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Chloe nods and crosses her arms, “I get it. Honestly, I do. When I first found out I …I mean, what does one do when you find out your partner is <em>actually </em>the devil?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Natalie drops her keys when Chloe says that. She swallows her spit then shakes it off, trying to pull herself together.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“It really threw me for a loop,” Chloe says, “then add on top of that being in <em>love</em> with the devil.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Natalie scoffs as she sits back up, fiddling with her keys again.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Save it,” she says, “at least you had the grace of being in love with an Angel. What did I get?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Chloe furrows her eyebrows and shakes her head, “When I first found out I … I was terrified too. Of the world, of the people in it. Of knowing that … of <em>feeling</em> like my life was not my own. And you know the only thing that kept me from crashing and burning?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Natalie finally gets the drawer open. Here she pulls out her laptop and sets it on the table.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Lucifer never lied to me about who he was,” Chloe says, “he always told me the truth, and I <em>chose</em> not to believe it.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Natalie opens her laptop, shaking her head in anger.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“When I found out who he was, he didn’t change. Just my understanding of him. Just my understanding of the world.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“And what am I supposed to do with that understanding?” Natalie asks, sitting back in her chair, annoyed.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>But more so frustrated, lost.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Maze never lied to you about who she was,” Chloe says, “your anger isn’t at her. It’s at the world. For changing. For … opening up to so many more possibilities. Even the bad ones. When I found out, I didn’t <em>completely</em> lose my shit because I knew that, despite it all being terrifying, it was also reassuring. That despite the chaos of the world around me, there was always one place that I felt safest.  And that was with him. Because Lucifer never changed, and neither did Maze.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“I appreciate the attempt at a pep-talk, Detective Decker, but things aren’t that simple,” Natalie says.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“They aren’t that complicated either,” Chloe replies.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Natalie sighs, sadness starting to bleed out of her again. She holds it back, keeping it in as much as possible. But her anger fades into resignation. Resigned to this conversation.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>To the uncomfortable confrontation.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Look, I … I’m trying,” Natalie admits, “I’m trying to … <em>cope</em>, as Dr. Linda would say.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Chloe nods and smiles, “Sometimes it helps to have a therapist friend. Especially one familiar with our <em>particular</em> brand of crazy.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Natalie nods and leans back in her chair, “Yeah,” she says before sighing.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Look I … I appreciate the, whatever this is,” she says, waving in between her and Chloe, “but It’s … it’s more complicated than that. Trust me.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>The office is silent for a few uncomfortable moments.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Then uncomplicate it,” Chloe says, looking down at her feet, “Have you spoken with Maze?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Natalie shakes her head, “How … what would I say?” she asks, truly lost for words, “I mean …she’s a demon. Like, an <em>actual</em> demon.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Chloe nods, “Yeah, but she’s still Maze. She still has feelings for you, and, to be honest, I’m worried about her. She would never admit it, because … well, It’s Maze, but … I can tell she’s <em>really</em> hurting.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Natalie shakes her head and sits up in her chair, “Perhaps you don’t know her as well as you think you do,” Natalie says, “She’s a demon, she’s used to living in harsh conditions, right? A human avoiding her calls isn’t going to break her.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Chloe nods and tilts her head, “Maybe, but … to her, you’re not just a human. You’re <em>her </em>human.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Natalie pauses and looks up at Chloe.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Not answering her calls won’t make her stop loving you,” Chloe says, “It will only make loving you hurt.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Natalie lowers her eyes, thinking about that. Her eyebrows furrow, and she shakes her head.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“She’ll be fine without me,” Natalie says, shaking her head.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Chloe sighs, “I … I disagree. She’s … she’s going through some stuff of her own right now, and she could really use somebody on her side. Her friends can only do so much.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>They stare at each other for a moment before Chloe drops her arms by her side.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Call her. At least … tell her you’re processing or …<em>trying </em>or taking it one day at a time. Give her something. Please.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Chloe turns to leave, and Natalie just sits there, taking that in.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>When Chloe exits the office, she slowly shuts the door behind her, leaving it ajar.</p>
<p>Then she smells another waft of cologne, and her eyes turn to the conference room. She stares at it longingly, wishing that scent weren’t just her imagination.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Inside her office, Natalie sits. Her mind is already jam-packed with issues and revelations, and now she had to work. Correction, she got to work. To take her mind off of everything else.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>She sighs and nods to herself before typing in her information into her computer. She begins going through emails. Slowly, as the minutes pass, her shoulders begin to drop, and she begins to calm down. This is what she needed, something to take her mind off of … <em>everything</em>.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>That brief moment of reprieve ends with the sudden ring of the phone jolts her out of her thoughts. She puts a hand on her chest, catches her breath, and reaches out to answer the phone.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Edwards,” Natalie answers.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Don’t hang up,” Liz says.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Natalie’s eyebrows furrow, “Liz? What are …why are you calling me at work? I’m busy.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“You blocked me on your cell phone, what else am I supposed to do?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“I don’t know, maybe take the hint?” Natalie asks.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“This is really important,” Liz says.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Natalie sighs, exasperated. She reaches a hand up to pinch the bridge of her nods, “Liz, I have a lot of stuff on my plate right now, and I don’t have time to-“</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Father Grayson is missing,” Liz says.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Natalie pauses, her tone dark.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Okay, and if you want to file a missing persons report you have to-“</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“They already did that,” Liz says, “And …and no one’s been able to dig up any information on him. It’s been two weeks now, Nat. We’re all worried.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Well, I’m not. And I’m also not your personal ‘where’s waldo’ book. If you want to find him, do it yourself and stop wasting my time.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Nat, and I know this sounds crazy, but I think your girlfriend may have something to do with him missing.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Natalie pauses and narrows her eyes, “Pardon?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“I … she’s bad news. And I can’t tell you why, you just have to trust me.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Ms. Smith and I are …we’re on a break,” Natalie says, “and despite it being none of your concern, I don’t think she has much interest in Father Grayson.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Nat, please. Just … for <em>once, </em>just listen to me,” Liz says.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Natalie sits there for a second, her eyebrows furrowing. She tilts her head, “No.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“No? Nat, she isn’t … she isn’t like you and me,” Liz says.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Ms. Smith and I have way more in common than you, and I ever did,” Natalie says, “and …yes she’s …well, she’s a lot of things, but she isn’t the type to kidnap-“</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Actually, Maze <em>would</em> do that.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Natalie pauses, “Well, she isn’t going to hurt –“ she says again before pausing.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>No, Maze would do that too.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“She isn’t going to kill him if that is what you are thinking. If she even has him, which again, I doubt she does because why would she give a shit about some priest?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“So, you didn’t tell her?” Liz asks.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“No,” Natalie says, “and she doesn’t need to know.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Liz sighs, an alleviated chuckle behind her words, “Good. Good, because if she broke some guys arm over something simple as not liking him, I can’t imagine what she would do to someone she thinks wronged her girlfriend.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Thinks?” Natalie says.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“You know what I meant,” Liz says.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Natalie nods to herself, “Liz. Don’t call my work number unless you have something work-related to talk about.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“I know, I’m sorry. I’m just worried. I … I promise I’ll give you more time to cool down,” she says.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“There is no cooling down,” Natalie says, “We’re done. We’re like … <em>done</em> done. Enjoy your life.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Nat! Wait,” Liz says, sending Natalie is going to hang up.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Don’t throw away our friendship over one minor disagreement. I mean, we had some good times, didn’t we?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Liz …,” Natalie says, the annoyance in her voice.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Yeah?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Every orgasm I ever had with you? I faked it,” she says before hanging the phone up.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>She grunts and goes back to checking emails on her computer.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Bitch,” she huffs beneath her breath.</p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p>--</p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p>Inside the pocket universe, Lucifer stands – sans jacket and tie – in front of six rolling whiteboards. His cuffs are rolled up, and his hair is messy. His eyes narrow as he steps back and scans the words written on the whiteboard. He looks over them, eyes darting back and forth. He relaxes his shoulders and grunts.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“This is horrible!” he says, frustrated, before producing a spray bottle out of thin air and spraying the boards down.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Not as easy as it looks, huh?” he hears.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>He turns to see God sitting on the conference table.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Oh, can it, old man,” he says, annoyed.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>God chuckles as Lucifer wipes down the whiteboards and tosses the spray and cloth aside. He pops the cap on the marker again, looks at the board a bit before going back to writing.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Lucifer jots a few words down for a bit before pausing. Suddenly realizing God is still there. He turns and sees God sitting on the table patiently.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“What?” he asks.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>God shakes his head, “Nothing, I’m just … observing.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Lucifer narrows his eyes, “Why?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“I’m not here to cause trouble,” God says, seeing suspicion in Lucifer’s glance, “I am simply here to watch. You can’t imagine how difficult it’s been keeping the key players on path for all these eons. Especially when new paths open every day.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“You said you only offered the path,” Lucifer says.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“I do,” God replies, “Doesn’t mean I don’t get to gently nudge you in the correct direction.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Nudge?” he asks.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“What, you thought your life was completely up to you? That all those <em>favors </em>you did were of your own design?” God asks.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Was it not?” Lucifer asks.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“As I said, <em>gently</em> nudge.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Lucifer scoffs, “Father if you aren’t here to provide some meaningful assistance, I’d very much like you to <em>piss</em> off.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>God smiles.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Lucifer turns back to the board and writes down a few words.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Uh, poison has already been used,” God says.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“What?” Lucifer asks, turning to him.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Poison. It’s actually been used several times. Certainly, administered in different ways, but, I imagine it gets more difficult as time goes on.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Lucifer sighs and produces a cloth in his hand again before wiping the word poison off the board.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Drowning won’t work either, first-hand experience I’m afraid. I drowned,” God says, “I went swimming at night, in a lake by my father’s farm.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Lucifer pauses, something familiar about what God is saying. He turns to him and watches him as he speaks.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“It was a simple thing,” God says, chuckling, “I just went for a swim but … there was something in the water. Something … dark.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“The dark lake,” Lucifer whispers.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>God nods, “Yes. Anyway, blood was spilled, the lake turned black, and my father stuck me into -get this – a bottle.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Lucifer furrows his eyebrows.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“A bottle?” he asks.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>God nods.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“He stuck God into a bottle?” Lucifer says, shocked, “How?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Well, when you yourself are God, the humblest of objects seem to do as you please. It’s quite simple.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Is that what this place is?” Lucifer asks, looking around, “am I in a bottle too?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>God shakes his head, “No, you’re in your ring.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“My ring?” Lucifer says.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>God nods.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Wait, so I’ve been carrying around a universe this entire time?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“<em>Pocket</em> Universe, this universe still exists within my own. And yes. I needed it to be near you when you and your brother coalesced. So, I put it in a ring and gave it to you.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Wow,” Lucifer says, replaying everything in his whole life.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>He turns his eyes back to the board.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Well, I’m certainly not going to put my kid in a bottle,” he says, making a new list of items to stick a pocket universe in.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Then he pauses on realizing he is thinking about children. His own. Then he thinks about her.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>That is when it dawns on him he is alone, that he might be alone forever. There is desolation in his eyes.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“We’re going to be here for a while longer,” God says, sliding off the table, “so it’s best you continue coming up with a plan.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Lucifer scoffs, trying to hide the sadness in his voice, “I never thought I’d say this, but by comparison to swimming, your plan sounds way less boring.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>God chuckles and nods, “Well, I’ll check on you again. I have a few things I must do to prepare.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“How, uh,” he says, finally turning to God, “How long will I be here?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Until we have all the pieces in order,” God says.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Oh, so when I have a plan… then I’ll go into my own world?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>God smiles, “Yes, and when we retrieve your Goddess.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Lucifer pauses, “My what?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Balance, Lucifer. We must aim for balance in all that we do. We have the male energy,” he says, pointing to Lucifer, “now we need the female.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Lucifer scoffs, “So an arranged wedding?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>God shakes his head, “Of sorts,” he says.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Lucifer grunts and turn back to his board.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“You do have a choice, if that is what you are upset about,” God says.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Lucifer turns to him, “I do?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>God nods.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“You may choose any being in the universe, but they must also choose you.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“and if they don’t?” Lucifer asks.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Then, I will have to create a being just for you.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Lucifer grimaces at the idea.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Unless you have someone in mind,” God asks.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Lucifer sneers at him, “What, now is the time you choose to not be omniscient? You know very well who I would choose.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>God chuckles and nods, “Knowing and experiencing Lucifer.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“I want the Detective,” he says without skipping a beat, “I want Chloe.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>God smiles and nods.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“As I said, we wait,” he says before disappearing.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Lucifer sighs and turns back to the board. He screws up his face before another cloth appears in his hand, and he wipes the board down.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>He sighs and brings a hand up to his forehead. He shakes his head before looking back at the board.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Think,” he says to himself, “What would the Detective do?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>He pauses, an interesting idea coming to his head.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“What if-“ he says, suddenly finding a fascinating use for all their murder cases.</p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p>--</p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p>It’s evening time, and Trixie sits inside her bedroom watching a TV show on her tablet. She is sprawled out on her bed, and beside her lays bubbles. He watches the screen as well, his ears tilting back as he watches.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“So, these two guys go on supernatural adventures trying to get rid of the bad guys,” she says to Bubbles.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>He tilts his head curiously.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Just like you!” she says with a smile.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>He wags his tail.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Trixie hears the front door open and shut before the familiar sound of keys dropping into a bowl.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Baby, I’m home!” Chloe yells.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Trixie pauses the show and drops the tablet on the bed.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Let’s go get something to eat,” she winks at Bubbles.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>He barks and wags his tail before hopping off the bed.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Trixie walks into the living room and sees Chloe opening the fridge. Chloe bends down and looks inside before sighing. She turns and sees Trixie walking up to a small bar area and sitting on the stools. Bubbles walks up to the bowl of water on the floor and drinks.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“How was school?” Chloe asks.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Trixie shrugs, “Okay.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Chloe smiles, “Yeah? Nothing exciting you want to tell me about.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Trixie thinks for a moment, her eyes going up into her head. Then she shakes her head and smiles, “No.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Chloe chuckles.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“What do you want for dinner?” Chloe asks.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Spaghetti and meatballs,” Trixie responds after a moment of thinking.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Mmm,” Chloe nods, “that sounds good. I could use come carbs after the day I had.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Bubbles stops drinking and walks over to Chloe before sitting at her feet. Chloe turns and pops open a cabinet before reaching in and pulling out a pot.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Mom?” Trixie asks.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Yes, baby?” Chloe asks.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“If Bubbles is old like Lucifer, how come he was a puppy?” she asks.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Chloe shrugs and shakes her head, “I don’t know. I guess …I guess, you know, his soul and his body are different.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Trixie furrows her eyebrows, unsure what that means.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“You know like, his soul was put in a puppy and not the other way around,” Chloe says.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Oh,” Trixie says, trying to reason that, “so his soul is a hellhound, but his body is a normal dog?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Yeah,” Chloe says, nodding, “I think?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>She thinks about it for a second before turning her head to bubbles.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Right?” she asks.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Bubbles barks.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“I think that’s a yes,” Chloe says, “but that sounds like a question for Maze.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Maze has been teaching me how to summon him,” Trixie says.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Chloe scrunches her face, “Yeah, I’m going to have to talk to her about that. We should have a …no summoning until you’re eighteen rule.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Trixie giggles and Chloe pauses, taking a moment to really come to terms with how strange her life has become. She shakes that off and sets the pot in the sink and turns on the faucet before standing and watching the pot fill up.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“You know,” Chloe says, “I’m … I’m really proud of how calmly you are taking all this.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Trixie listens, unsure why this is such a big deal.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“I mean, I know it’s a lot to process and … everyone is kind of dealing with it in their own way. But you are actually taking this in the most mature way possible. I’m really proud.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Trixie shrugs, “He’s just a hellhound mom,” she says.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Right,” Chloe says, her eyes wide, “Just a …just a hellhound.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Chloe shuts off the faucet and then pulls the pot of water onto the stove. She cranks the gas burner on, and the cyan flame pops to life. She stares at it for a moment. It reminds her of Lucifer.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>She sighs before her eyes move up to catch her reflection in the side of the pot. She pauses, her eyebrows furrow as it looks like the fire is reflecting in her own eyes. Suddenly she turns, hiding her eyes from Trixie and running into the bathroom.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Mom?” Trixie asks, seeing her strange behavior.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Chloe enters the bathroom and shuts the door behind her. Then, she flips on the light and looks directly into her eyes.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Nothing. Just normal eyes.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>She stares, her eyes wide and trying to figure out what that was. She leans in, blinking to make sure she sees correctly.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>When nothing looks unusual, she sighs and stands back. She shakes her head and puts a hand on her forehead.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>She’s taking this a lot harder than she thought she might.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>She stands there for a moment, nodding to herself before opening the door and existing.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Are you okay?” Trixie asks.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Chloe nods and approaches the pot. She clicks off the stove and turns to Trixie.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“How about pizza instead?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Trixie grins and nods, “Yeah! With mushrooms!”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Chloe smiles and reaches into her pocket to call the pizza place. Trixie slides off the chair and walks back to her room to watch more of the show. Bubbles trots seconds behind her.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Chloe orders the pizza and passes Trixie’s room on the way to her own.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“I’m going to shower, okay? If the pizza man gets here before I’m out, the money is on the table.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Trixie nods, and Chloe enters her room, shutting the door behind her. She disrobes, tossing her dirty clothes into the hamper before walking into her bathroom and cutting on the shower. She cautiously glances at herself in the mirror, expecting flaming red eyes to be staring back at her. Instead, she is met with her own eyes, tired and sad.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>When the water is warm enough, she steps in.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>She seals the curtain behind her and allows the warm jets to run over her. The steam inside the shower rises until she is surrounded by a fine white mist. She closes her eyes, letting the hot water soothe her aching muscles. With her eyes closed, her bathroom disappears, and Chloe finds herself in a different world. Slowly, the sound of water exiting her shower head fades, and she is left with a strange almost-silence.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Her eyes are closed, but it feels like she can see. Her eyebrows furrow.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>This world is blanketed in a thick fog. A fog that moves and circles her like sharks in the water. In the distance, she can barely make out the small pop of fire and the fizzle of embers. Her eyebrows furrow.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“What are you guilty of?” a voice whispers into her ears.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Suddenly her eyes pop open, and she is standing in her shower, the sound of the hot water siphoning into the drain beneath her is louder than it was before. She looks around for a moment, confusion marring her face. She slides the curtain back for a bit, to check if anyone is in her bathroom. There is no one there. She closes the shower curtain and stares forward.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>This is something she should speak with Amenadiel about, right? Considering the last time something like this happened, she was possessed, it might not be such a horrible option.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>There is something wrong, she knows, but she just can’t put her finger on what it is.</p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p>---</p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p>Inside a seemingly abandoned warehouse, Maze stands in front of an old table. Here, all of her knives – or at least the ones she thinks are needed – lay out in the open. She lovingly traces the blade on one of them with her finger, deciding if this is the one she wants.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Behind her, watching her choose, a man lays tied to what appears to be a dentist’s chair. He has a black piece of tape glued to his mouth, and he physically shakes beneath his bindings. He screams beneath the gag.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>She narrows her eyes and picks up a pointed blade. She touches it to her skin, tracing her tongue with her teeth in a similar fashion as it easily cuts the small hairs on her arm.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“We demons get a bad reputation,” she says, “they think we’re all torture this and torture that.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>She turns to her victim and tilts her head.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Don’t get me wrong, I love a good skin filet as much as the next demon,” she says, “but we are capable of so much more. Torture for torture's sake, it’s …great, but …”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>She says, slowly walking over to the man. He sees her coming and begins to flail. When she gets up close, into the light beaming down from the rafters, she leans in and locked eyes with Father Grayson.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“It’s so much better when there is justice to be had.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>She pauses, the joy in her eyes momentarily fading. Justice.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>She had never been concerned about justice before. What humans did with their own life was of no interest to her.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Yet … this one.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>She furrows her eyebrows and leans next to him, her elbow near his head. She traces the knife down the center of his chest.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“It’s odd. This whole … having a soul thing,” she says, as if she is slowly coming to terms with it.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“I say stupid shit like that all the time now. Justice? Love? And it doesn’t bother me as much. Should it bother me?” she asks him.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>He looks at her, pure fear in his eyes. He wails beneath the thick piece of table covering his mouth.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>She narrows her eyes and stands up. She looks at him with disdain before reaching over and ripping the tape off his mouth. Immediately he starts begging.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Please, I – I - I don’t know what this is about, but I promise you have the wrong guy! I’m a priest.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“I know who you are,” she says, unmoved.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Then you have to know I -“</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“You what?” Maze says, “You’re going to lie to me? You’re going to tell me all the things you think I want to hear? That you’re a good man? You know how many religious figures we have in hell? There’s a whole section devoted just for your type.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Maze leans in, her blade coming up, the tip pointing into his sternum.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Lie to me,” she says, “I <em>dare</em> you.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“P – P - please, I don’t know what this is about. Is it money you want?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>She digs the knife a few millimeters under his skin before slicing down quickly, drawing a thin line of blood down the center of his torso.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>He screams out loud, more out of shock than pain.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“You know, it almost makes it worst that you’re a priest?” she says, “I mean, don’t get me wrong … I love the idea of sticking it to the big guy by infesting his followers with dirtbags like you, but …”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>She stares at him, a disgusted look on her face.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“I <em>almost </em>feel sorry for him. That he has humans like you shitting all over his name.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>She pauses before standing up and laughing maniacally.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Listen to me! Pity! For God!” she says, shaking her head.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>That free laugh turns quickly back into rage, and she leans over a very confused Father Grayson.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“You’re going to wish you never touched her,” Maze growls.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Father Grayson shakes his head, “I … what?“</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Natalie Edwards,” she says.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Father Grayson opens his mouth before his eyebrows furrow.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Natalie Edwards?” he asks, like the name is unfamiliar to him, “I don’t-“</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Maze brings her knife up to his throat.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Wai-Wait! Wait! I … I didn’t do anything, I swear! I haven’t even spoken to her since… since the group home.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“When she was a kid?” Maze asks.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Father Grayson nods, “Yes! See, I – whatever this is about, I’m sure it’s a misunderstanding.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Maze looks at him for a moment before angling her blade on his chest and slowly sinking it into his skin. It stays deep enough to get beneath his skin, but superficial enough to not hit muscle. She drags her blade up, cutting a sliver of skin off his abdomen and exposing pink, fleshy muscle beneath.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>He screams out in pain, shaking his torso, trying to jiggle the bindings loose.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“You know,” Maze says, tossing the flap of skin over and staring as blood starts to pool in his belly button.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“I was having a real … personal crisis, but this is just the thing I needed.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Please stop!” he begins to cry, his body still shaking, trying to loosen the tight zip ties around his wrists.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Maze narrows her eyes, “I wonder, did she ask you to stop?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Father Grayson shakes his head, “I don’t know what you’re talking about! Please! Let me go!”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Did she ask you to let her go?” Maze asks, her blade pointing to another section of his skin.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Did she beg you to stop when you were touching her?” Maze asks, a snarl coming from her teeth.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“I don’t know what you’re talking about?!” he says.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Maze grits her teeth, “She has a scar,” she says, “right about …”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>She traces the knife down to the side of his abdomen.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Here,” she says before jamming her knife into his body.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>He screams bloody murder, and she pulls the knife out. Dark red blood seeping through the wound.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“You wouldn’t happen to know what that is?” Maze asks.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“I don’t fucking know what you’re talking about!” he screams, anger bleeding through his pain.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>She chuckles, amused.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Whoa!” she says in mock offense, “Look at the mouth on this one.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>He tries to shake his bindings again. Again, he fails.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“I didn’t do anything to her you … you crazy-,” he says before he stops himself.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Crazy, what?” Maze asks, “Crazy Bitch? Oh … you have no idea what a <em>bitch</em> I can be.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>She turns and walks back to her table. She needs another knife for this one.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“One thing I hate more than hypocrites is liars,” she says, looking over her knives, “and right now, you’re two for two!”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“I swear!” he screams, “I didn’t do anything! You have the wrong guy.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“If you’re going lie, at least be good at it,” she says, setting the blade down and reaching out to grab his face.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Please,” he begs, “I don’t know what you’re talking about.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>She turns to him, and they lock eyes. She stares at him for a second before a strange feeling falls over her. It feels like … remorse.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>She grunts turns back to the table of knives. Here she fiddles with a curved dagger for a moment, oddly second-guessing herself. Wondering if this were the right thing to do.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Father Grayson seems to catch on to her hesitation.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Please, I … you haven’t done anything that can’t be forgiven yet. Just let me go. Your eternal fate is at stake here.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>She scoffs and shakes her head before staring down at her blades. Her eyes fall on a serrated dagger, one of her favorites.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Wrong crowd,” she says, sliding the knife off the table with a metallic flourish.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>She turns to him, and he looks at her in horror.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“I kind of want my eternal fate to be decided by me,” she says, her face slipping into its demon form.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Father Grayson’s’ eyes widen before he shakes against his binds.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“No! No! Please!” he screams.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>She approaches him and grabs onto his face as he tries to look away. She pulls the blade up to his cheek.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Look at me!” she screams.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>He shakes, weeping now.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Open your <em>fucking</em> eyes!” she yells.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>He reluctantly opens them and stares directly into her silver eyes.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“I am Mazikeen of the Lillim,” she says, “Executioner of the Devil’s will, and unfortunately for you, I’m Natalie’s girlfriend.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Maze pauses, her eyes dropping for a second.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Or … was,” she says.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>She catches herself for a second, preventing the sadness from bleeding into her eyes. She snaps back to him, the blade pressed against his cheek.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Please don’t kill me,” he whimpers.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Oh, I’m not going to kill you. I just want a piece of the action before my brothers and sisters get a hold of you in hell. And we both know that’s where you’re going.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Father Grayson openly weeps now, his body shaking in terror.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“They can have my sloppy seconds,” she says, tracing a line of blood down his face with her knife.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“I did it!” he screams, “I did it… please… just …I did it!”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Maze pauses, her eyes narrowing.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“I was weak and … I never did anything like that before or after, I swear!”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Maze grunts and slices another mark down his other cheek.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Please,” he whimpers.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>She grunts and headbutts him hard. His head hits the back of the chair, and he goes out cold.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>She scoffs, disgusted, and shakes her head.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>She tosses the knife onto his stomach and walks back to the table.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>She doesn’t know what’s worst. That it doesn’t make her feel better to torture this man, or that he admitted Natalie was the only victim. That he made her the only victim.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>She sets her hand on the table, angry at everything. At herself, at Lucifer, at God.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>She slams her fist on the table, and the blades on top of the table jump.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>She grunts in frustration before grabbing a dagger, turning and spiking it towards Father Grayson. It lands and sticks into the chair right by his head. It misses him by less than an inch. His head shifts at the impact and rests against the blade.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Maze tightens her jaw.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>She wanted to end this mortal, but … killing him wasn’t the answer. It wouldn’t make Maze feel better, and it definitely would not make Natalie feel better.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>She pauses, suddenly aware of what might.</p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p>--</p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p>It is late at night, and the bullpen is nearly empty. A few detectives burn the midnight oil, but otherwise, the department is dark.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Inside Natalie’s office, she sits with a container of food on her desk.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>She goes over files quietly, and despite the upheaval of her life recently, her shoulders are oddly free of stress; relaxed. She hears shuffling by the door and looks up to see a man with dark sunglasses standing at her door.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>She lowers her files and furrows her eyebrows. She could have sworn she had her door closed.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>His head turns like he is looking, taking note of the office, before it lands onto her.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>She sits back in her chair.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Can I help you?” she asks, confused.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>He stares at her momentarily before smiling.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“I was about to ask you the same thing,” he says, entering the office slowly.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>She narrows her eyebrows and slides her hand to a drawer on her desk. Here, she slowly opens it and casts a quick glance at a gun sitting on top of a stack of papers.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“If you’re looking to report a crime,” she says, “You’ll need to file a report with one of the officers during regular business hours. I can’t help you with that.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>He smiles and moves to sit in the chair on the opposite side of her desk.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>He sits down, and she watches him, eyes discerning everything about his form and calculating what she might need to do to fight him.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“I’m not here to harm you, I assure you,” he says.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“What do you want?” she asks.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Again, I could ask you the same thing,” the man says.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>She narrows her eyes.</p>
<p> </p>
<p> “How did you even get in here?” she asks</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Aren’t you at all curious?” he asks.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Whatever you’re here for, I don’t care. I think you need to leave.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Don’t you want to know why your parents left you on the steps of that station?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>She pauses, and her eyes turn to him.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Do I know you?” she asks.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“No,” he replies, “but I am very familiar with you, Natalie.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“What’s your aim here? Blackmail? Is this a distraction?” she asks, turning the bullpen to see if anything is awry.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Seeing it still in the same shape, she turns back to the man, “or are you just trying to make me feel bad?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>He shakes his head, “I am only here to help.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Her eye flips to the phone before going back to him.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“You see, everyone has a path,” he says, “true I don’t usually get involved. Free will and all that but, sometimes you need a little nudge in the right direction. Like the first domino in a long line of dominoes.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>She turns to the phone and picks up the receiver, “I’m calling security,” she says.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“You see, I find myself with much more time on my hands. Now that my task to create the holder of a new universe is almost finished, that is.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Natalie pauses and turns to him. She narrows her eye.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Are you one of Lucifer’s brothers?” she asks, her eyebrows furrowed.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>The phone clicks and a voice on the other line answers.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“LAPD. What’s your emergency?” it asks.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“No,” the man says, shaking his head with a smile.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Hello?” the voice on the phone says.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Natalie stares at him for a moment before getting an overwhelming feeling that he isn’t a threat.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Uh,” she says into the phone, not keeping her eyes off him just in case she is wrong.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Uh, sorry. Never mind. False alarm,” Natalie says.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>She hangs up the phone and turns to the man. She sits back in her chair, arms crossed.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Demon?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>He shakes his head, “No,” he says pointedly.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>She swallows her spit, her eyes growing serious, and her head lowering.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>When she speaks, her voice is softer, dangerously low.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“God?” she asks.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>The man smiles widely.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>She looks at him and nods, her jaw tense. She turns her eyes to the gun in her drawer and scoffs at how<em> pointless</em> it is.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>She stares out into nothingness for a second before cautiously glancing at him.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Don’t you want to know?” he asks.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>She thinks about it for a second and shakes her head, “I don’t care,” she says.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Oh, but I think you care very much,” he says.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>She scoffs.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“So what, you’re here to torment me? To throw in my face all the shitty things that life just <em>happened</em> to land on my doorstep?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>He wears sunglasses, but even with them on, she can sense he is looking at her with displeasure.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>He stares at her for a long time.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>She scoffs and shakes her head.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“I don’t have anything to say to you,” she says</p>
<p> </p>
<p>She pushes the drawer back in and slides back up to her desk before picking up a pen and going back to work. She writes a little before flipping her eyes up to see him still sitting there, unmoving and staring at her.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“You’re angry at me,” he says.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>She scoffs again and shakes her head before flipping her eyes back down to her work.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>She pauses for a moment before sitting up and glaring at him.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“For an all-knowing being, you surely aren’t getting the clue that I don’t want you here.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“No, I’m very aware your interest to speak to me seems absent, but I am also aware that speaking to me is exactly what you need.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>She narrows her eyes and scoffs, “What I need? What I need is some fucking peace an quiet, away from … angels and demons and … psychology and … I just … I want to be left alone!”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>He shakes his head, “That is not true,” he says.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>She scoffs at him, “Why do you suddenly care what I need?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>He stands up, his movement so smooth it almost seems as if he exerted no energy at all to do it.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“I understand your rage Natalie, but I am not here to be the benefactor of your ire. I am here to right a wrong.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Right a wrong?” she says, her eyebrows raised in disgusted amusement.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Right a wrong?” she repeats, standing up, “How can you fix this?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>She reaches down and pulls her shirt out of her skirt before lifting it up to reveal the scar on her abdomen.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>God tilts his head, taking it in.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“You don’t just show up after I begged, and I prayed for an answer only to say ‘<em>oops, my mistake</em>.’” she says, tears starting to well in her eyes.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“I questioned, and I - I plead for help. Something. <em>Anything.</em> Anything that would make it make sense and you … you ignored me!” she screams.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>He lifts his head back up, silent and unmoving. He tilts his head slightly, hearing her.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“You let me believe I was alone,” she said, “and you … you made me suffer alone! You abandoned me. You were all I had, and you abandoned me!”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>She lets go of her shirt, aggressively moving to tuck it back into her skirt.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“So, I’m sorry if I don’t want to <em>fucking</em> talk to you. Okay? When I wanted to talk, you didn’t want to speak to me. And I get it, sure. You have a universe to run, and the idea that I’m yelling at God in my office is not lost on me, and I’m sure later on I will figuratively shit myself at the idea. But right now …. right now, I have <em>nothing</em> to say to you.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>She plops back down in her chair and grunts, “So … so you can get out of my office.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>She clicks her pen again and begins writing. She doesn’t look up for a very long time before casually, she glances up to see him still standing there.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>She narrows her eyes.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Do you feel better?” he asks, “now that you’ve told God to …as you mortals so crudely say it<em> ‘ piss off?’</em>”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Natalie scoffs and shakes her head, “Why do you care how I feel?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Because you’ve become important to my plan,” he says.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Natalie shakes her head, “Oh, so now that I’m important to you, I am worthy of you giving a shit about how I feel?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>She shakes her head before pausing. She turns her eyes to her side to find God suddenly standing very, very close to her. She looks up at him, a sudden hesitation in her words. He reaches out and places a hand on her shoulder. She looks at it and shrugs it off before turning and sliding out of her chair and walking across the room.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Don’t touch me,” she says, wrapping her arms around her body.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>They stand in silence for a moment. She turns behind her to see the blue couch.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Somehow, I thought, maybe somewhere deep down that meeting you would …would make it all make sense,” she says.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>She sits down on her couch, her hands in her lap, “but it only makes me feel … so much more alone.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>God sighs. When he is done exhaling, suddenly he is sitting next to her.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“I, like most people, wish that I could do something,” he says, “wish that I could take all the …murder and hatred and …violence in the world and make it …”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>He snaps his fingers, a spark of divine light falling off of them.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Disappear,” he says.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Natalie turns to him, noticing real disappointment behind his eyes.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“But I can’t,” he says, turning to her.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“You’re God, you can do anything you want.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>He nods, “I can, but … being all-knowing means that I know what happens when I do. When I … insert my will into places it doesn’t belong.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“When I created mortals, I imbued them with free will. To act on them, with impunity, would mean to ignore that very basic tenant of what makes humans so special. I only offer the path, never modify its actors.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Why?” she asks.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Hmm,” he says, smiling, “Your kind’s curiosity is refreshing.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>He sighs and turns to her, “You humans call it the butterfly effect. One slight change or aberration can affect a whole system. It’s not something I could have risked, not when so much was on the line.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“So… you didn’t,” she says, looking down at her hands, “you didn’t … make him-“</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Dear child, no!” he says aghast, “I do not want any ill to befall <em>any</em> of my creations. Especially those so important to me.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Natalie looks up at him, “Stop saying that! If I were important …</p>
<p> </p>
<p>She doesn’t have to finish that sentence for him to understand her thoughts. He watches them live in her head. He nods and smiles.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Not as important as Lucifer,” he says, “but …<em>definitely</em> more important than Jacob, or Magdeline, or Elizabeth, or Celeste, or even-”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“I get it,” she says, waving him off. She takes a second to take that in.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Why me?” she asks, turning her head up to him, tears welling behind her eyes, “what did I ever do to you?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>He sighs and shakes his head.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“I wish I could tell you why the paths offer themselves the way they do, but … not even I know that,” he says.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>She shakes her head, “Somehow, that makes me feel worse,” she says.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Would it make you feel better to know that Jacob is destined for hell?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Jacob?” she asks.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Jacob Grayson,” he says.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Natalie scoffs.</p>
<p> </p>
<p> “I suppose that will have to do,” she says, “though hell is too good for him.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>God chuckles and nods, “I believe we are both aware of a demon who may not wait for hell to make his life miserable.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Natalie’s mind moves to Maze. They sit in silence for a very long time.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“You know, contrary to popular belief, I love all of my children equally. My angels, the mortals I’ve created, and the demons. I might not agree with their actions, but … they are all precious to me.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Natalie sighs, “Ms. Smith and I … we’re not talking.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“You mean you aren’t talking to her,” God says.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Natalie shakes her head, “What would I say? I mean … we have nothing in common.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Odd, you had much in common before knowing she was raised in hellfire.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Natalie shakes her head, “That’s different. She’s … different.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Mazikeen is a demon, yes,” he says, “but … she struggles with humanity in the same way you do. With finding her place on earth, with … dealing with emotions. Souls do strange things to demons, it’s partly why I never fixed them.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Natalie furrows her eyebrows and turns to him.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Well, that and free will. They have to want a soul, and most demons don’t.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Most demons?” Natalie says.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>God nods.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“So … Ms. Smith,” Natalie begins.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Mazikeen will be the first of her kind. It will take several millennia to fix, but … I find myself with more time.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Natalie chuckles and shakes her head, “So God is telling me he wants me to hook up with a demon. What … what is my life?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“You misunderstand me,” God says, “What I want doesn’t factor into the equation. What do you want?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Natalie shakes her head, “I don’t know anymore.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Love?” he asks, “because I know of a place you can find it in great abundance if you so desire it.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Natalie shakes her head, tearing up.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“I … doubt that. I haven’t spoken to her in two weeks. I don’t know much about demons, but … I know Ms. Smith. If she ever speaks to me again, I will never hear the end of it.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>God smiles and nods, “So you require proof?” he asks.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>She opens her mouth to say something when her phone rings. She turns to it to see it is from an unknown number. She furrows her eyebrows and looks at him.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Answer it,” he says.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Tenuously, she reaches over and picks up the phone.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Hello?” she asks, wary.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Don’t hang up,” Liz says.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Natalie immediately tenses her jaw.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“I know you don’t want to speak to me, but … I thought you should know,”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“What part of me blocking your number makes you think I want to talk to you?” Natalie says, “you’ve told me all I need to know.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Father Grayson was admitted to the hospital an hour ago,” Liz says.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Natalie scoffs, “So you called me to talk to me about a man who can rot in hell for all I care?” she says.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Nat, please. I’m… I’m trying to apologize!” Liz says, flustered.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Natalie pauses, her eyes narrowing, “Apologize?” she asks.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“He came in with a lot of lacerations and … bruises. He won’t say what happened to him but …”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>The line goes silent.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“But what?” Natalie asks, already annoyed by this conversation.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“He confessed,” Liz says, “He … confessed what he did … to you.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Natalie pauses, “What?” she asks, a voice that comes out lighter and more silent than usual.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“I …I’m so sorry,” Liz begins to cry, “That I didn’t believe you I …I get if you never want to talk to me again and I …<em>God</em>, Nat I didn’t know. I … I regret it all.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Natalie just sits there and listens, shocked.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“I should have believed you, Liz says, “and I know there’s nothing that can take that back but … I’m sorry. I – I don’t know what else to say, but I’m sorry.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Natalie sits there, completely unsure of how she should respond to that. So she doesn’t, she just sits in silence, absorbing it all.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Liz hears her silence, “Nat?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“I … I don’t know what to say,” she says.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“I understand, and I don’t mean to intrude. I just, I couldn’t sleep tonight knowing that …I’m sorry, Nat. I – if you need anything, please let me know, okay?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Okay,” Natalie says as an automated response, her brain still trying to wrap her head around everything.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“My number is still the same. If you want to unblock me and call me, I will listen if not then … that is okay too.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Okay,” Natalie says again, devoid of any feeling but confusion and shock.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Okay,” Liz says, “Bye. Sorry.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Liz hangs up, and Natalie sits there, a wide-eyed stare towards the phone. She turns to God, and he just watches her, watching the wheels turns behind her eyes.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Okay?” he asks.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Natalie shakes her head, “I … I don’t know. What am I supposed to say?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Perhaps a thank you might have been in order?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Natalie shakes her head, her confusion dropping.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“I have no interest in alleviating Liz’s guilt,” she says.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>God chuckles and nods, “It will be at the bottom of the list she has things to feel regret for.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Natalie sits in silence for a moment, slowly coming to terms with the fact that the man who had assaulted her had admitted it. Had confessed what he had done. That it wasn’t her burden alone to carry. That Liz believed her, and soon, so would everyone that ever doubted her. Ever called her a slut, or a liar, or a trouble maker. That his collar would be seen for what it is, a farce.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>A ruse to hide an unwell man.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Then she thinks about what Liz had said. That he had come into the hospital with wounds and bruises. That he would not say what happened to him but had willingly confessed to his crime.</p>
<p>She furrows her eyebrows and turns to God.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Did … did Ms. Smith do that?” she asks.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“What do you think?” God says.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Natalie doesn’t respond. She just stared out, answering the question in her head.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>God smiles and nods.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“So now, what will you do?” God asks.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Natalie turns and glances at the pillow on her couch. She stares at it for a very long time, running thoughts through her head. She was sitting in her office talking to God. The God.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“So let me get this straight,” she says, turning to him, “You, <em>God</em>, want me. To … continue seeing a demon?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>God smiles, “All my children deserve love equally.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Natalie narrows her eyes.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“How do I know this isn’t some … strange <em>‘mysterious ways’</em> plan thing?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>God laughs and nods, “It is,” he says, “but does that make what you feel any less real?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Natalie narrows her eyes even further, damn near squinting.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>God sighs and nods, “Now my main task is complete. I see no use in separating my children for much longer. It will take a while, sure, but eventually, I want all of them to come home.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Natalie furrows her eyebrows, “Home? As in … heaven?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>God nods, “I can only do that if I bridge the gap between mortal and divine. I have that covered on one end, now I just need the demon side of things to work out.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Okay,” Natalie says, “I’m not going to be like … some demon brood mother, am I?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>God shakes his head, “Absolutely not.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“So, what are you trying to get me to do?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Be happy,” he says, “Simply, be happy.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Natalie looks at him warily.</p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p>--</p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p>An hour later, the doors to LUX’s penthouse elevator open, and Natalie cautiously enters. The penthouse looks very similar looking to the last time she was here except the dining table has been removed in favor of couches, and the piano is completely gone. It is replaced with a punching mannequin that has seen better days.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>The coffee table is covered in Chinese take out containers, and clothing is strewn about the living room floor in a way that makes Natalie’s skin crawl. She fights off the urge to pick them up and turns her eyes towards the bedroom, which now has a bed instead of a desk.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>The lights are low, save for a dim orange light coming from the bedroom.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Natalie walks in cautiously. She nervously fiddles with her hands.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Ms. Smith?” she asks, low at first, as she tentatively taking steps forward into the living room.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“I … I wanted to talk to you and thought you’d be here,” she says, looking around.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“I spoke with Tony from the bounty team, and he said you weren’t on a job so-“</p>
<p> </p>
<p>She hears a random clink from the bedroom and turns to it. She pauses.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Ms. Smith?” she asks again before turning and walking towards the steps.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>She slowly climbs the steps and turns her head towards the light. There, in the corner of a bedroom, Maze stands with her back towards the steps. In front of her lays a lit work table where an open satchel of knives is spread out. Maze diligently sharpens each and every one of the blades, earbuds in her ears playing loud heavy metal music.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>She strokes the edge of the blade against the sharpening stone before picking it up and staring at it, shifting the blade in the light.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Ms. Smith?” Natalie asks.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Maze’s head rocks to the music, her body only slightly shaking with it.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Natalie sighs and approaches. She reaches a hand out and taps Maze’s shoulder.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>In a second, too fast to register, Maze spins around, and Natalie finds herself with a metal blade pressed up against her throat. Her eyes widen, and her mouth opens. Maze’s narrowed eyes loosen when they see her, and she immediately pulls the knife away. Natalie steps back, catching her breath, her body suddenly tremoring from the influx of adrenaline.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Maze pulls the earpiece from her ear, and the loud music blares from it.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“You trying to get yourself killed?” she asks, reaching into her pocket to cut off her music player, “You don’t just sneak up on me like that when I’m sharpening my knives.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Natalie raises a hand out, still catching her breath, “No, you’re right totally … totally my fault. Should not - should have seen that one coming. A demon with a table full of knives might not want to be surprised.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>She moves to sit on the bed, her heart rate still rising as if her body had not yet heard the message that things were fine. It happened so fast her body is still responding to the threat despite there being none.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Maze looks her over for a second before turning and dropping the knife on the table.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“What are you doing here?” Maze asks, a slight annoyance in her voice.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“I wanted to talk,” Natalie says, her voice shaky.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Maze scoffs and cuts the light off above the table. She walks past Natalie, towards the steps to the bedroom.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Well, maybe I don’t want to talk, ever thought about that?” she says, descending the steps and moving to the bar.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Natalie pulls herself together for a moment before standing and following Maze.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Ms. Smith I-“</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“I get it,” Maze says, cutting her off as she pulls a bottle of whiskey from behind the bar, “You found out I’m a demon. It was hard to hear, and you ghosted me. Fine.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Natalie nods and approaches the front of the bar.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“It’s not fine. Look, I know, I - I had to process … well, I’ve been processing a lot for the past two weeks, and the timing was …the timing was not the best.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Uh uh, and what would have been a good time to tell you I’m a demon? Perhaps when we first met and I said I wasn’t from around here? Or maybe when I kept telling you-“</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“I get it,” Natalie says, “Yes, I can see the signs now, but … Ms. Smith, you have to understand I have a lot on my plate right now. And - and finding out the woman I love is a demon well that takes the cake. This isn’t some normal relationship argument that you have to get through. This is all so new-”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Maze pauses, and her eyes narrow. She shifts on her feet.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Wait … love?” she interrupts.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Natalie sighs and sits down on the stool. She doesn’t say anything for a while.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“I -  I’m so beyond fucked up that it is … quite frankly, I shouldn’t be surprised that the only person I really have any connection with isn’t a person at all.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“But you said love,” Maze says.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Yes I …,” Natalie closes her eyes and wills the word to come out, “I do love you.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Maze lets out a relieved huff, a smile on her face.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Yeah?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Yes, but …when you told me that you loved me, it was hard enough. I have some really fucked up experiences with love, and they never end well. I – I wanted to try and fix that with you, but then everything happened and …I’ve been talking about it in therapy and-“</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“You’re not the only one that’s been going through things,” Maze says.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“I know,” Natalie says, “I know, and …it’s unfair for me to use that as an excuse, but sometimes when you are going through tough times it feels like … it feels like you’re alone.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Maze leans forward, placing a hand on Natalie’s. Natalie looks down at Maze’s hand, then back up to Maze.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“I would never leave you alone,” she says, real conviction behind her words.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>A small smile curls in the corner of Natalie’s mouth, and she clutches Maze’s hands.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Benefit of immortality,” Maze says.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Natalie chuckles and nods.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>They sit in silence for a second, exchanging soft touches with their hands.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“What made you change your mind?” Maze asks.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Natalie nods and lets out an exhausted sigh, “Today has been a long day,” she says, “I am … emotionally exhausted, and I just want to sleep.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Maze’s eyebrows furrow. What did that have to do with her?</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“All day I’ve had people telling me I should call you, and I’ve just been …hesitant. But then, I had a talk with God.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Maze sighs, “So now you’re religious? Great.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Natalie shakes her head no, “No, I mean, an <em>actual </em>conversation. As in he showed up at my office.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“What?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Yeah. Yeah, I haven’t … I’m still processing it all, and none of it feels real, but it <em>definitely</em> happened.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“What did he say?” Maze asks.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“I asked him why he abandoned me,” she says sadly.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Maze nods, the question being similar to something she would have asked him.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“What did he say?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“He said he hasn’t abandoned any of his creations.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Maze scoffs, “Of course, he would think that.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Natalie shakes her head, “he spoke about everyone like … like he had so much love for them. Like a father only doing what is best for his children.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Maze rolls her eyes and pulls away from Natalie.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Well, he can keep his fucked up notion of parenthood. I didn’t have anybody, and I definitely don’t need him coming in and saying that was for a reason.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“He said you were going through some things,” Natalie says, “and … I suppose in part, that is what made me want to speak to you. He spoke like he was worried for you to be alone.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Maze pauses. She doesn’t say anything, her face turned away from Natalie.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“I suffered alone for so long,” Natalie says, “and I would hate to see you do that. Even though I know on some level that’s my fault. That me not speaking to you for two weeks caused that I … I just don’t want that for you. For <em>us</em>.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Maze stares at the bottles in front of her, a weird emotion brewing up in her belly. Her eyebrows furrow as she tries to pinpoint it.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“<em>Maze</em>, I’m sorry,” Natalie says.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Maze scoffs and waves her off before grabbing a second glass and turning to set it on the bar. She begins pouring whiskey into it.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Don’t worry about it. I’m fine,” she says.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Natalie watches Maze pour the glass, “Are you?” Natalie asks.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Maze’s eyes turn to her, and she stops pouring. She sets the bottle down. She looks at Natalie for a long time and sighs.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“I hate it,” she says.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Hate what?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“All these … feelings. They make me …well they make me feel,” she says.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Natalie nods, “Yeah,” she says, pulling the whiskey to her lips, “feelings are shit.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>She takes a sip.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Maze reaches into her back pocket and pulls out the folded piece of laminated paper.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Linda gave me this to try and sort through them, but all it has done is pointed out how often the damn things happen. What am I supposed to do with that?” she asks.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>She tosses the paper onto the bar, and Natalie reaches out to open it. She takes a look at the faces and cracks a grin.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“She gave you this?” she asks.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Maze nods and leans onto the bar. She grabs her drink and takes a sip from it.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Natalie begins to chuckle, and Maze turns to her. She watches Natalie for a while before smiling and laughing too.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Yeah, it’s stupid.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Natalie shakes her head, “No, no, it’s not. It’s great.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Maze smiles and nods. They sit in silence for a little while. Comfortable, still.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“So …” Natalie begins, ‘I uhm ...I heard that Father Grayson was admitted to the hospital with a whole host of lacerations on his body. Like someone had tortured him.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Maze stares out into nothing and hums, “Huh,” she says.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“You wouldn’t happen to know anything about that?” Natalie says, turning to Maze.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Maze doesn’t reply. She just takes a sip of her drink.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Natalie sighs, “How did you find out?” she asks.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Maze sets the glass down on the bar and smacks, enjoying the taste of whiskey on her lips. She regards Natalie for a while before settling on the fact that she knows Maze did it. Maze nods.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“I overheard you,” Maze says, “I went to Linda one morning to talk about all this …<em> feeling</em> crap and, I overheard you telling your story.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Natalie nods, her eyes narrowed and filing a reminder to get Linda to add more soundproofing to her office.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“I was so … angry,” Maze says.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Natalie scoffs, “Join the club.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Maze shakes her head, “That asshole was going to get away with it and … I just, well, I thought if you wouldn’t talk to me, the least I would do is give you some justice.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“That isn’t justice, Ms. Smith. Statute of limitations means I won't be getting justice for what he did to me,<em> ever</em>,” Natalie says.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Which is why -“</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Which is why I’m glad you did what you did,” Natalie interrupts.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Maze pauses and furrows her eyebrows.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“What?” she asks, shocked.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“You believed me,” Natalie says, turning to match Maze’s gaze, “you didn’t need to ... drag my life through a strainer or … ask me twenty questions about what I was wearing or what I was doing. You just … you believed me. None of the people I’ve actually told, besides Dr. Linda of course, believed me. Their first immediate thought is that I must be wrong. Like I wouldn’t know what happened.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Maze furrows her eyebrows as if she couldn’t fathom someone not believing Natalie.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“You believed me enough to take the risk without even questioning.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Maze just stares at her, surprised at how willing she is to be okay with torture.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“So, you’re not mad at me for going outside the law?” Maze asks.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Oh no, I’m furious,” Natalie says, “Truth be told, I’m quite certain that once I’ve fully processed all the …<em>crazy</em> shit that has happened today, I will yell at you. But …right now, it’s comforting. It’s kind of sweet, and I need a win, so I’ll take what I can get.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Maze chuckles.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“But for now, I’m just … I’m happy that you and I are okay,” Natalie says.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Natalie turns to Maze, “We are okay? Right?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Maze glares at her for a while before her eyes soften, and she sighs.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“I suppose. It’s going to be hard to find a human that fucks like you do.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Natalie rolls her eyes and grins.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>They sit in silence again before Natalie yawns.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Maze turns her eyes to Natalie. Natalie fiddles with the glass in her hands.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Do you uhm,” she begins, her voice doing that thing it does when she is trying to hold back tears, “do you mind if I sleep here tonight?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Maze furrows her eyebrows, “No, why would I?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“I just ..I’ve been sleeping on the couch in my office for the past two weeks, and its done a real number on my neck.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Okay,” Maze says without question.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“I’m just … every since I learned that demons and angels are real It’s been hard, you know?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Maze sighs and nods, “I know.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“I don’t feel safe anywhere,” she says.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Maze nods her head, “I suppose me telling you I would never hurt you won’t help?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Natalie shakes her head, “You don’t have to tell me Ms. Smith. You’ve showed that to me many times already. Which… which is why I’d like to sleep here tonight, if that is okay with you.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Maze nods</p>
<p> </p>
<p> “I could give you a massage if you want,” Maze says.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Huh?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“For your neck,” Maze responds.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Natalie pauses. She thinks about it. About Maze’s hands on her shoulders, about being touched. About being touched by a demon. What happens if this is all wrong? If Maze turns out to be playing her? So many what if’s run through her mind that, for a moment, she is paralyzed by the thought.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>The fear of not knowing.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Edwards?” Maze asks, a curious tone to her voice as she watches Natalie just stare out into nothingness.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Natalie spirals inside her head, thinking of all the things that could go wrong.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Then she hears it, a strange voice in her head that sounds like herself.</p>
<p> </p>
<p><em>Leap of Faith</em>, it asks.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>And suddenly all the what if’s disappear and leave only one version of their timeline. The version where Maze gives her a massage, she sleeps well and they are happy.</p>
<p> </p>
<p><em>Wouldn’t that be nice?</em> The voice asks.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>She thinks about it for a moment then turns back to Maze. Maze raises her eyebrows, not sure what this look is that Natalie is giving her.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“You know what,” Natalie says, “Yeah. Yeah, I would like that.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Really?” Maze says, surprised.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Yeah, fuck it. Let’s do it,” Natalie says.</p>
<p> </p>
<p> Maze scurries around the edge of the bar and walks towards Natalie.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“You sure?” We don’t have to-“</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“No, no, this is good. I need to … work through some things, and this might be a good way to start.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Maze smiles and ushers Natalie towards the couch. Natalie sits facing forward, and Maze comes behind her on the couch. She reaches over and is about to touch Natalie when Natalie sits up and pulls away.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Actually, can we do this on the bed? This couch is uncomfortable.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Yeah sure,” Maze says.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Natalie walks over to the steps, ascends them, and sits on the edge of Maze’s bed. Maze climbs behind her before sitting up on her knees. Carefully she places her hands on Natalie’s shoulder.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Natalie immediately tenses.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“You know for this to work, you have to relax,” Maze says.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Sorry, I – yes, okay,” she says.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Natalie tries to relax as Maze begins to rub her shoulders. At first, it is tentative to get Natalie used to the touch. Eventually, Natalie’s shoulders are loose enough that Maze really gets in there, working on the massive knots of tension in her shoulder.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Then, she works her way up to the neck. Her hands come up on either side of Natalie’s head and start to massage the spot behind her ears. Natalie’s jaw opens of its own accord. Like Maze had pressed the “Open Sesame” button. Natalie’s eyes roll back as her head goes lax in Maze’s hands. Maze chuckles as Natalie groans. Maze’s fingers travel up the side of Natalie’s head, then down the back of her neck.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>They don’t so much as massage as they feel around, as if looking for something. Then, Maze tilts Natalie’s head slightly to the side before unexpectedly – and quickly – jerking it to one side.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>A loud pop goes through the room, and Natalie’s eyes open wide.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“What the fuck?” she asks.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Maze keeps Natalie’s head steady for a moment as Natalie stares outward, horror on her face. Slowly, though, she feels a tension drain from her neck, her shoulders, and her arms. She feels it tingle in her feet.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Ohhh,” she moans, her eyelids low and heavy.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“I was the best torturer in hell,” Mazikeen says, “I know every muscle, bone, and tendon in the human body. I could make you scream, cum, or cry just by hitting a series of pressure points. Kind of like cheat codes in a game.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Natalie makes a noise that sounds like a scoff, but it is light. She lacks the energy to seven scoff.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Doubt it,” she says.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“You had some tension in your neck, and I fixed it,” Maze says.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“You did,” Natalie hums, her eyes still closed, but her body completely relaxed in Maze’s hands.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Maze leans over and sees Natalie’s eyes are pretty much closed at this point.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Edwards,” she says.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Mmm,” Natalie responds, low and lazy.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Maze chuckles and slowly slides from behind Natalie, letting her body fall flat against the bed. By the time she’s slid off the bed, Natalie seems completely asleep.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Maze stands there for a moment and stares at her. She chuckles before turning and heading down the steps towards the bar.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Here she cuts off the light above the bar.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>She slides off her boots by the steps before ascending. Then she places her hand beneath Natalie’s knees and starts to turn her so her head is towards the headboard. Natalie sits up as she does this and opens her eyes, catching Maze off guard.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“What are you doing?” she asks.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“I was going to turn you,” Maze says.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Natalie looks at her oddly before sitting up on the bed. A rush of blood flows to her head, and she visibly wobbles for a second. Then, she reaches down and slips off the heels on her feet before turning, pulling back an edge of the comforter and maneuvering herself so that she is eventually beneath the covers, her head on a pillow.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Maze moves around the other side of the bed and slides in. She lays there for a moment, her eyes moving to Natalie as it becomes clear that Natalie has quickly fallen asleep.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>A smile pierces the worried look on Maze’s face, and she lays there for a moment, content.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>This was the last thing she had expected to happen tonight.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>But if she had to be honest, she thinks as she turns her head to Natalie, it was also the best.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>--</p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Chapter 3</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>One month later</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>The precinct bathroom door swings wide open, and Chloe enters with one hand clutching her stomach and the other holding her mouth. She runs over to a stall, slams the door open, and barely makes it to the toilet before she is vomiting up her breakfast.</p><p> </p><p>She gasps and heaves into the toilet, her feet finally coming up beneath her, so she is in a more comfortable position. Her hands grasp onto the side of the toilet, her face inside the toilet bowl. For once, she is happy she makes a habit of coming in earlier than others. Well … most people at least.</p><p> </p><p>Just as the stall door closes, it slowly reopens, and Ella enters. She reaches forward and pulls Chloe’s ponytail away from the side of her face.</p><p> </p><p>“Bro,” she says, a worried look on her face, “that’s the third time this week. You need to go to the doctor.”</p><p> </p><p>Chloe waves her off, spitting into the toilet as nausea starts to dissipate.</p><p> </p><p>“I’m fine,” she says groggily into the toilet before sitting up slightly and spitting again.</p><p> </p><p>Ella reaches out to the toilet roll and pulls out a few squares. She hands the squares to Chloe, and Chloe dabs her mouth. Ella lets go of her hair and backs up as Chloe stands and flushes.</p><p> </p><p>They back out into the main area, and Chloe begins to wash her hands.</p><p> </p><p>Ella shakes her head, “I think you should,” Ella says, “At first I was worried it was food poisoning, but now I’m worried you might be pregnant.”</p><p> </p><p>Chloe scoffs and shakes her head, “Don’t speak that into the universe,” she says, scooping a handful of water into her mouth and swishing it around.</p><p> </p><p>“You said it yourself. You’ve been tired, you’ve been throwing up. I also keep catching you touching your chest, which means you have tender breasts,” Ella says.</p><p> </p><p>Chloe furrows her eyebrows and looks at Ella as if that bit of information she should have not known.</p><p> </p><p>“I’m just … I’m just a little overdue for my period, that’s all,” Chloe says, “with all the recent stress, I think that’s normal.”</p><p> </p><p>Ella glares at Chloe.</p><p> </p><p>Chloe sighs, “Fine. If I ...” she begins turning back to the door before lowering her voice, “get a pregnancy test, will you shut up?”</p><p> </p><p>“Oh! We can do it together!” Ella says.</p><p> </p><p>Chloe narrows her eyes.</p><p> </p><p>Ella shrugs, “It’s been a while since a scare, and I thought you could use some solidarity.”</p><p> </p><p>Ella pauses and thinks for a moment, “Wait, if Abel and I have babies, would that make you my like … great, great, great-“</p><p> </p><p>“Okay, I get it, and no,” Chloe says, waving Ella off and moving to the paper towel dispenser.</p><p> </p><p>“Besides, there’s no way I’m<em> actually</em> pregnant,” she says, keeping an eye on the door in case someone comes in.</p><p> </p><p>“Jack and I always used protection.”</p><p> </p><p>“It only takes one little swimmer to break free,” Ella says.</p><p> </p><p>Chloe shakes her head, “No, no, we were always safe. There’s no way- “ she says before pausing.</p><p> </p><p>Her look of disbelief turns into horror.</p><p> </p><p>“Lucifer,” she huffs.</p><p> </p><p>“Huh?” Ella says looking around as if expecting to see someone, “What about-“</p><p> </p><p>She turns around to be met with a pale and green Chloe.</p><p> </p><p>“Oh no,” she says right as Chloe turns and sprints right towards the stall again.</p><p> </p><p>She kneels at the bowl right as her gut churns, and she vomits again.</p><p> </p><p>“Oh, Chloe,” Ella says with pity behind her voice.</p><p> </p><p>--</p><p> </p><p>An hour later, Chloe and Ella are in the lab. Chloe nervously taps her fingers on Ella’s lab table, her eyes going back and forth between the clear plastic cups on a nearby table. Each cup has a plastic wand submerged in warm urine.</p><p> </p><p>Ella slips off gloves and tosses them into the trashcan before walking back to her table.</p><p> </p><p>Ella smiles, “Now we wait. We’ll know whether you are carrying a little bundle of joy in two minutes.”</p><p> </p><p>Chloe shakes her head, not wanting to hear that.</p><p> </p><p>“Wrong thing to say?” Ella asks.</p><p> </p><p>Chloe glares at Ella right as they hear a knock on the door.</p><p> </p><p>It’s a delivery man in a brown uniform. He is carrying a box.</p><p> </p><p>“Can anyone sign for this?” he asks.</p><p> </p><p>Chloe turns and approaches the man before looking at the box. It’s addressed to Natalie Edwards.</p><p> </p><p>“Yeah, sure,” she says before signing.</p><p> </p><p>The man thanks her and leaves as she turns and sets the box down on the table.</p><p> </p><p>“What do you think it is?” Ella asks.</p><p> </p><p>“Other things on my mind,” Chloe says before turning to the tests, “how long has it been?”</p><p> </p><p>Ella chuckles, “Like fifteen seconds, just relax.”</p><p> </p><p>“I can’t relax. I might be carrying the spawn of Satan.”</p><p> </p><p>“Aww, but imagine the cute little curls,” Ella says.</p><p> </p><p>Chloe squints her eyes, “This is fun for you, isn’t it?”</p><p> </p><p>Just then, Natalie walks past the door of the lab.</p><p> </p><p>“Oh! Boss lady!” Ella yells.</p><p> </p><p>Natalie pauses then turns around before heading into the lab. She seems calmer and bouncier than usual.</p><p> </p><p>“Lopez?” she says, looking at Ella.</p><p> </p><p>She turns to Chloe, “Decker,” she nods before pausing, “uh … not trying to be offensive, but are you okay? You look horrible.”</p><p> </p><p>Chloe turns to Ella and slumps her shoulders.</p><p> </p><p>Ella moves to diffuse the situation, “Uh, you got a package,” she says, pointing to the box on the lab table.</p><p> </p><p>“Hm?” Natalie says.</p><p> </p><p>She looks at the bot then smiles</p><p> </p><p>“Oh! Excellent,” she says.</p><p> </p><p>“What is it?” Ella asks.</p><p> </p><p>Meanwhile, Chloe’s eyes are focused on the jars of urine on the table and on the egg timer next to it that is counting down the seconds.</p><p> </p><p>“Well,” Natalie freely offers, “As you know, Dr. Martin and I have been working for on me … opening up emotionally. And since Maze and I are in what appears to be a committed relationship, I decided it best I … indicate my trust and emotional availability to her.”</p><p> </p><p>“Awww,” Ella says, “You actually used her first name.”</p><p> </p><p>Natalie narrows her eyes, “Right. Yes.”</p><p> </p><p>She looks back down at the package, “Anyway, I decided what best way to open up than to celebrate our one-month anniversary of being official.”</p><p> </p><p>“Shut up!” Ella says excitedly, “ that is the cutest thing I’ve ever heard.”</p><p> </p><p>Natalie tilts her head back, not sure why that got such a big response.</p><p> </p><p>“Now, I realize we’ve been … <em>together</em> for far longer but…well, you know,” she says.</p><p> </p><p>“I do, I do,” Ella nods, “So what’s in the box? Ooh, let me guess.”</p><p> </p><p>Natalie chuckles as she pulls on the key ring attached to an elastic chain around her waist. Then, she sinks the key into the folds of the box, cutting the tape.</p><p> </p><p>“I’m going to guess it’s like …something leather. No! Metal. Maybe both,” she thinks.</p><p> </p><p>She nods to herself, “Another pair of leather handcuffs, final answer.”</p><p> </p><p>Natalie shakes her head and smiles.</p><p> </p><p>“It’s a knife,” Natalie says.</p><p> </p><p>Ella furrows her eyebrows, “Another one? She already has like twenty of those.”</p><p> </p><p>“Trust me, it’s a good one. It has much more … <em>sentimental</em> value than any intrinsic need,” she says, opening the box and reaching in.</p><p> </p><p>Inside is a smaller box with the image of a butterfly knife on it. The knife is metallic and shifts colors in the light. To an untrained eye, it might look rainbow.</p><p> </p><p>“That is the gayest knife I’ve ever seen,” Chloe says.</p><p> </p><p>Natalie bursts out into laughter, catching both of them off guard.</p><p> </p><p>She nods, pleased with herself, “Yeah … yeah, it is.”</p><p> </p><p>The egg timer dings, and they Ella and Chloe turn to each other.</p><p> </p><p>“What was that?” Natalie says, turning to the timer, then to the jars of urine on the table.</p><p> </p><p>She tilts her head, then her eyes move to Ella and Chloe.</p><p> </p><p>“Are those pregnancy tests?”</p><p> </p><p>Chloe sighs and looks at the test from afar, working up the courage.</p><p> </p><p>Ella nods, “Chloe’s been sick all week. We thought … you know.”</p><p> </p><p>“Oh. So then why are <em>you</em> taking one?” Natalie asks.</p><p> </p><p>Ella shrugs, “Solidarity?”</p><p> </p><p>Natalie stares at them for a second before sliding the package off the table and sticking it beneath her arms.</p><p> </p><p>“The more I learn about you two, the weirder it gets,” she says, turning to leave.</p><p> </p><p>She pauses at the door, hesitation in her bones. She spins around on her heels and faces Chloe and Ella.</p><p> </p><p>“For what it’s worth,” she says, pulling Chloe’s attention away from the tests on the table.</p><p> </p><p>“Strange things aside, I do find our coworker relationship to be valuable. I … see now why you fraternize, and I’m starting to think that is a benefit and not a hindrance.”</p><p> </p><p>They just stare at her, their eyebrows furrowed.</p><p> </p><p>“Are you saying you like us?” Ella asks.</p><p> </p><p>Natalie scoffs, “I believe I was very clear, Lopez,” she says, shifting the box beneath her arms and walking away.</p><p> </p><p>Chloe turns to Ella, and they stare at each other for a few moments.</p><p> </p><p>“It’s actually quite comforting,” Chloe says, tilting her head, “You know … Lucifer did the same thing. Give her time. It took him forever to admit his feelings.”</p><p> </p><p>“Mm,” Ella says.</p><p> </p><p>They turn their eyes back to the pregnancy tests.</p><p> </p><p>Ella looks at Chloe before raising her eyebrows with empathy.</p><p> </p><p>“You will be fine,” Ella says.</p><p> </p><p>Chloe nods and slowly approaches the table before pulling her test out of the jar. She turns it over and stares at it.</p><p> </p><p>Suddenly the weight of the world falls off of her shoulders, and she sighs.</p><p> </p><p>“Oh, thank <em>God</em>,” she huffs, leaning on the table.</p><p> </p><p>She had expected her world to implode again, but no … no baby.</p><p> </p><p>Ella smiles.</p><p> </p><p>“See! I told you. Nothing to worry about,” she says, “Except … now you <em>really</em> need to go to the doctor. That much vomit isn’t good if you aren’t pregnant.”</p><p> </p><p>Chloe chuckles and shakes her head before tossing the test into the trash, “I … you have no idea how relieved I am,” she says.</p><p> </p><p>She grabs the jar of urine with one hand and a paper with the other to cover it.</p><p> </p><p>“I bet,” Ella says, “I bet it was worth the scare, though, right?”</p><p> </p><p>Chloe tosses a knowing glance to Ella before a grin seeps into the corner of her face, “I’m going to toss this and get back to work before we <em>both </em>get fired.”</p><p> </p><p>Ella chuckles, and Chloe exits.</p><p> </p><p>She sighs, content before turning to the jar of urine with a pregnancy test still in it.</p><p> </p><p>She walks over to the test and grabs the timer before shoving it into a drawer nearby. Then she mindlessly pulls out the test and moves to toss it in the trash before curiosity tells her to look.</p><p> </p><p>She turns it over and pauses. She blinks a few times before her eyebrows furrow, and she brings the test up closer to her eyes.</p><p> </p><p>There, with a clear indication, is a smiley face.</p><p> </p><p>“A smiley face?” she asks, “what … what the hell does that mean?”</p><p> </p><p>She reaches into the garbage with the other hand and fishes out the box. Here she slides the instructions from the box and opens it up fully. She scans around it, trying to find the section on what indicators mean.</p><p> </p><p>When she finds it, she pauses, and all color drains from her face. She turns her eyes back to the indicator.</p><p> </p><p>“What?” she says to herself, “No, that’s …that’s ridiculous.”</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>--</p><p> </p><p>Later Chloe shuffles into her home, setting her keys in a bowl by the door before turning and shutting it.</p><p> </p><p>“Trixie, baby,” she yells.</p><p> </p><p>She hears movement and then the small thumps of pre-teen feet before seeing Trixie poke her head around the corner.</p><p> </p><p>“Yeah?” she asks.</p><p> </p><p>Chloe smiles and shuffles over to her before reaching out and hugging her.</p><p> </p><p>“It has been a long day,” she says, pulling away and holding Trixie’s face in her hand.</p><p> </p><p>“What do you want for dinner?” she asks.</p><p> </p><p>Trixie shrugs, “I’m not hungry,” she says.</p><p> </p><p>Chloe tilts her head, “You’re not hungry?” she asks, “what did you eat?”</p><p> </p><p>“I made macaroni and cheese,” she says.</p><p> </p><p>“Right,” Chloe says, thinking about the little containers she purchased that could be microwaved. She supposes that is why she purchased them, so Trixie didn’t have to wait on her to eat.</p><p>“</p><p>“Okay,” she huffs, removing her hands, “well, how was school?”</p><p> </p><p>Trixie shrugs, “Good.”</p><p> </p><p>“Did you do your homework?” Chloe asks.</p><p> </p><p>Trixie sighs and rolls her eyes, “Yes, mom, I did my homework.”</p><p> </p><p>“Hey, don’t roll your eyes at me,” she says, “I’m asking basic questions here.”</p><p> </p><p>Trixie sighs. Bubbles trots out of Trixie’s bedroom and heads towards the water bowl.</p><p> </p><p>“Did you do your homework?” she asks again, her hands on her hips and an <em>‘I dare you’</em> look on her face.</p><p> </p><p>Trixie sighs, “Yes, Mom,” she says, annoyed.</p><p> </p><p>“Go get it, let me see it,” she says.</p><p> </p><p>Trixie groans and sulks back to her bedroom. Chloe sighs and shakes her head. Bubbles still laps at water by her feet, and she turns to him.</p><p> </p><p>“What am I going to do with her?” she asks.</p><p> </p><p>Bubble pauses and looks up at her. They stare at each other for a while before she looks back to Trixie’s room and turns back to Bubbles. She kneels down and leans in closer to him.</p><p> </p><p>“You’re going to keep boys away from her when she gets to high school, right?” she asks.</p><p> </p><p>Bubbles barks and wags his tail.</p><p> </p><p>“Good boy,” she says, reaching out and petting him on his head.</p><p> </p><p>He leans into her touch before turning and laying on his back, exposing his belly.</p><p> </p><p>She chuckles and rubs his belly as he wriggles. Trixie comes out of her room with a notebook.</p><p> </p><p>She approaches Chloe and hands it to her. Chloe looks at it then stands and grabs the notebook. She looks over the work for a second before nodding.</p><p> </p><p>“Okay,” she says, handing it to Trixie.</p><p> </p><p>“I told you,” Trixie says smugly, crossing her arms.</p><p> </p><p>“<em>I told you</em>,” Chloe mocks before pulling Trixie closer and laying a barrage of kisses on her face.</p><p> </p><p>Trixie giggles and squirms through it before Chloe lets her go. She smacks Trixie on the butt as she walks away.</p><p> </p><p>“Are you sure you’re not hungry?” Chloe asks, turning and heading into the kitchen.</p><p> </p><p>“I’m sure,” she replies as she enters her bedroom.</p><p> </p><p>Bubbles turns himself upright and happily trots back into Trixie’s room.</p><p> </p><p>“So, if I make chicken, you aren’t going to eat it?” Chloe asks.</p><p> </p><p>“I didn’t say that,” Trixie replies.</p><p> </p><p>Chloe chuckles and shakes her head before reaching down into a cabinet below her microwave and pulling out a metal sheet pan.</p><p> </p><p>When the chicken is finished, Chloe and Trixie eat and talk. Eventually, it is time for bed.  Chloe showers, makes sure the house is locked up, and that Trixie is in her bed sleeping before she enters her bedroom and shuts the door.</p><p> </p><p>She climbs into her bed and lets out a large, content sigh when her head hits the pillow. Eventually, she too falls asleep.</p><p> </p><p>She has a dream about the misty place, and the tree. She has a dream that she eats an apple and falls into an endless pit of space where every inch of her skin is a memory of time. It is a thousand words spoken into her ear at once despite the deafening silence of space.</p><p> </p><p>When her eyes next open, they flutter into a blinding light. She blinks, her eyes squinting as it adjusts to find herself sitting again in an empty white room, on top of pure white sheets. She looks around for a moment, taking in this place. It is silent and empty here, and despite it being familiar, she doesn’t feel the same amount of dread she felt the last time she was here. She lays her head back against the pillow and closes her eyes, ready to wake. To get comfortable, she rolls onto her side, and that is when she hears it.</p><p> </p><p>Whispering.</p><p> </p><p>She opens her eyes to find Lucifer lying next to her. She can tell it is him, despite him being faced away, because she can smell his cologne. She can hear the timbre of his voice, even when it is low.</p><p> </p><p>“Lucifer?” she asks, surprised.</p><p> </p><p>He continues to whisper, speaking words she can’t hear or a tongue she doesn’t recognize.</p><p> </p><p>She knows this is a dream, this has to be a dream, but … it feels so real.</p><p> </p><p>“I miss you,” she says sadly.</p><p> </p><p>She reaches a hand out to touch the skin on his back. It is warm, hot even. The second her hand touches him, he spins around to face her, his eyes white and static. He stares directly into her, his mouth moving, but the words still low in a whisper.</p><p> </p><p>“Lucifer?” she asks.</p><p> </p><p>He continues to speak, to say something, but she can’t make it out.</p><p> </p><p>She inches closer, “I can’t hear you,” she says.</p><p> </p><p>She gets closer and is able to make out some words.</p><p> </p><p>Words like, Death and fear.</p><p> </p><p>She furrows her eyebrows, “What are you saying?” she asks him.</p><p> </p><p>He tilts his head, in an unnatural movement as if he were an animal – or something non-human - and simply responding to her question. Then he stops whispering. When his mouth opens next, his words aren’t a whisper but a loud resounding scream that physically shakes the room around them.</p><p> </p><p>“THE LORD IS MY SHEPARD, I SHALL NOT WANT,” he screams, “HE MAKETH ME LIE DOWN IN GREEN PASTURES.”</p><p> </p><p>She reaches up and covers her ears, “Lucifer!” she screams, the world around them shaking.</p><p> </p><p>“HE RESTORETH MY SOUL,” he yells.</p><p> </p><p>She pushes her hands further towards her head, trying to dampen the sound of his voice, but nothing works.</p><p> </p><p>“Lucifer, you’re too loud!” she screams.</p><p> </p><p>“YE THO I WALK THROUGH THE VALLEY OF DEATH, I WILL FEAR NO EVIL. FOR THOU ART WITH ME.”</p><p> </p><p>Inside her bedroom, Chloe pops straight up in bed, her eyes wide and sweat on her forehead. Immediately she brings a hand up to her mouth, but it’s already too late. Her stomach spasms and a wave of vomit crawls up her throat. The evidence of her dinner spill between her fingers and over onto her bedsheets.</p><p> </p><p>She peels the sheets off of her, her hand still covering her mouth, and books it to the bathroom. She reaches the toilet by the time her stomach spasms a second time and a torrent of vomit spews into the toilet bowl.</p><p> </p><p>She gasps and groans through each new violent spasm, focused on catching breathes between emptying her stomach contents. When it feels like she is done, and nausea has dissipated, she slides her hand up to the handle of the toilet and flushes.</p><p> </p><p>Then she collapses against the wall and pants, her eyes closed and her head turned up. She focuses on steadying her breathing and hoping that is the last of the vomit for now. Then, she will call Maze to watch Trixie so she can go to the emergency room.</p><p> </p><p>Ella was right.</p><p> </p><p>Something is wrong.</p><p> </p><p>“It’s not anything human doctors can fix,” she hears.</p><p> </p><p>She pops her eyes open and turns to the sink counter where God stands. She recognizes who he is and blinks, wondering if hallucinating were now a symptom. Then, her mind goes someplace worst.</p><p> </p><p>“Am I dying?” she asks, horrified.</p><p> </p><p>He chuckles and shakes his head no, “Not for many, many years,” he says.</p><p> </p><p>“What – what is wrong with me?” she asks.</p><p> </p><p>“Nothing, you are simply having a divine reaction.”</p><p> </p><p>“A what?” she asks.</p><p> </p><p>“You don’t remember? Between Lucifer’s semen and Ezria’s blood, you’ve turned into a divine comedy of sorts.”</p><p> </p><p>She narrows her eyes, unsure of what he is talking about, but believing it all to be disgusting.</p><p> </p><p>“Am I pregnant?” she asks.</p><p> </p><p>He grins and shakes his head, “No.”</p><p> </p><p>She thinks for a moment, “Am I … turning into …evil incarnate? I mean, he possessed me once and now … now-“</p><p> </p><p>“None of the above.”</p><p> </p><p>She shakes her head, “So what, I’m just having an allergic reaction to angel DNA?” she asks.</p><p> </p><p>God smiles and pulls himself up onto the counter. It’s odd to see his feet dangling against her cabinets. It’s even stranger to imagine God having feet.</p><p> </p><p>“Do you recall the demonstration I gave you? When I created a new galaxy?” he asks.</p><p> </p><p>She nods, “How can I forget. You don’t just forget something like that.”</p><p> </p><p>“Do you recall what I told you about the galaxy? About how it forms and what we must do?”</p><p> </p><p>“You told me I’m a catalyst,” she says, “for whatever was happening to Lucifer.”</p><p> </p><p>He nods, “Yes, you’re a catalyst of sorts.”</p><p> </p><p>Chloe sighs and allows her arms to fall to her side.</p><p> </p><p>“Can you just tell me what the fuck is going on? I’m tired, it’s been a long day, and I haven’t been able to keep anything down.”</p><p> </p><p>He smiles and nods, “Actually, I can,” he says,” You’re right. No need for circumvention anymore.”</p><p> </p><p>He slides off the counter and approaches her. He kneels down and makes sure to stare into her eyes.</p><p> </p><p>“It is the nature of the feminine to create,” he begins.</p><p> </p><p>“You told me I wasn’t pregnant,” she says.</p><p> </p><p>“Not with child, no,” he says, “don’t be daft. Feminine energy is more than the body. It is the heart, the soul. It speaks of possibilities.”</p><p> </p><p>Chloe stares at him and shakes her head, “What?”</p><p> </p><p>They hear pitter-patter, and God turns just as a shadow crosses behind him.</p><p> </p><p>He tilts his head and smiles, “Cassius?” he whispers.</p><p> </p><p>He stands and listens for a moment before turning his eyes to the door.</p><p> </p><p>“Cassius!” he says, his tone demanding.</p><p> </p><p>Suddenly a large black dog sits at God’s feet, staring up to him in wait like an obedient soldier.</p><p> </p><p>“You sensed me, did you not?” he asks.</p><p> </p><p>The dog barks and the bark echoes into a thousand smaller barks that fill the room. They originate from Cassius, but it sounds like there is no point of origin.</p><p> </p><p>God pulls up his finger and shushes him.</p><p> </p><p>“The child is asleep,” he says.</p><p> </p><p>Cassius slips down onto his front paws, laying on the ground. He stares up at God, his eyes patient and apologetic.</p><p> </p><p>God smiles and turns back to Chloe.</p><p> </p><p>“The universe is about balance,” he says, “that there must always be an equal opposing force. Light to dark, good to evil, man to woman.”</p><p> </p><p>She narrows her eyes at him</p><p> </p><p>“You are aware of my hand in your creation, are you not?” he asks.</p><p> </p><p>Chloe nods, “You … you had Ameandiel bless my mother with a child.”</p><p> </p><p>God nods and turns to Cassius.</p><p> </p><p>“Yes,” he says, looking over Cassius for a moment.</p><p> </p><p>He turns back to Chloe and stares at her for a long time.</p><p> </p><p>“The body is mortal,” he says, “the vessel you hold is …by all means the doing of your mother and father.”</p><p> </p><p>She furrows her eyebrows, “But?”</p><p> </p><p>“But the soul is … well, the soul is all mine. Crafted specifically for you.”</p><p> </p><p>“What?” she says.</p><p> </p><p>“I asked my son to bless your parents with a child. He believes I simply asked him to allow your mother to release an egg and …carry it to term.”</p><p> </p><p>Chloe furrows her eyebrows and shakes her head, “But you did more than that, didn’t you?”</p><p> </p><p>God smiles, “The miracle wasn’t the child, it was the soul,” he says, “You can’t imagine how hard it is to put something so divine into a pure mortal.”</p><p> </p><p>Chloe stares at him, her eyes wide in horror, “Am I … an angel?” she asks.</p><p> </p><p>God scoffs and turns to Cassius.</p><p> </p><p>“Why is <em>this</em> the hard part?” he asks.</p><p> </p><p>Cassius lifts his head up and begins to wag his tail. It flutters back and forth, a small trail of shadow behind each flick of his tail.</p><p> </p><p>God turns back to Chloe, “No. You are human, but have you truly never been curious as to why you are immune to Lucifer’s charms? Why he doesn’t affect you as he does the other mortals?”</p><p> </p><p>Chloe shrugs, “Because I’m a miracle,” she says.</p><p> </p><p>God nods, “Precisely, and that miracle is that your soul is … it has a piece of the divine in it. A small piece, but an important piece nonetheless.”</p><p> </p><p>Chloe stares at him for a moment, unsure what this means.</p><p> </p><p>“And that is why I’m vomiting?” she asks, “I’m having some sort of … reaction to whatever it was that made Ezria go all …dark?”</p><p> </p><p>God shakes his head, “You’re evolving, not reacting.”</p><p> </p><p>She groans and shakes her head, “I … I’m too tired for this,” she says, peeling herself off the floor.</p><p> </p><p>“I have my male energy,” God says, holding up his hand to reveal the onyx ring on it. Chloe recognizes it and perks up.</p><p> </p><p>“Now, I need my feminine energy to complete it,” he says.</p><p> </p><p>“Is that, “she begins, pointing at the ring.</p><p> </p><p>“My son has made it very clear that his first option should be you. I thought I’d give you the opportunity to choose.”</p><p> </p><p>She pauses for a second, “Choose… ?”</p><p> </p><p>God doesn’t respond. He can see the gears turning in Chloe’s brain.</p><p> </p><p>“Choose to be a God?” she asks, that idea so very ridiculous to her that she guffaws a little at the end of her sentence.</p><p> </p><p>God nods.</p><p> </p><p>“How is that a choice?” she asks, unable to wrap her head around the idea.</p><p> </p><p>God chuckles, “You don’t have to answer me now if you need time.”</p><p> </p><p>She shakes her head, “This was all planned,” she says, “so … so none of it was real?” she asks.</p><p> </p><p>“On the contrary, it was all real. Ameandiel was not the only angel to complete similar tasks for me. He just so happened to assist in <em>your</em> creation. My son just so happened to fall in love with <em>you</em>.”</p><p> </p><p>Chloe just stares, trying to think through the lightheadedness and a slowly building nausea.</p><p> </p><p>“What is the other option? If I don’t choose.</p><p>”</p><p>God shrugs, “I create someone for him.”</p><p> </p><p>She shakes her head, anger building with her nausea.</p><p> </p><p>“I’m not some … some angel or demon,” she says, “I’m human! Which means I have free will. Which<em> means</em> I have a choice and -and I’m not just going to drop my life because of some plan you have. I have friends here and - and family. <em>Jesus,</em> I have my kid to think about!”</p><p> </p><p>God shakes his head, “You misunderstand me,” he says, “What I am offering you is a choice. I’ve already made a promise to Lucifer that you live out a long and happy life, so your choice would only come at the end. When you’ve shed your vessel. I can’t very well do much with you now, anyway, what with earth tethering you.”</p><p> </p><p>She stares at him, unsure.</p><p> </p><p>“Once you die, you will have a choice. You can … stay in the silver city and live out eternity with your family and loved ones. Or, you can choose to become his equal, his partner. The creator of so much light and love.”</p><p> </p><p>She shakes her head, “Why me?” she asks.</p><p> </p><p>“Because it has always been the plan,” he says, “That is why I sent my son down to bless your parents. As earth as it is in heaven, yes? Balance. Your body is very much mortal, the product of two mortal beings. But your soul …”</p><p> </p><p>He smiles, nostalgia in his eyes, “Your soul is something unique. Divine.”</p><p> </p><p>His nostalgia turns into pride, and he turns to her, “I made it myself.”</p><p> </p><p>She stares at him for a while, horrified and confused and shocked. Then all at once, that horror falls into dread. She scurries off the floor and goes back to the toilet, where her stomach spasms, and she begins to vomit again.</p><p> </p><p>“Oh dear,” he huffs, stepping away from her.</p><p> </p><p>He turns to Cassius. Cassius looks up at him, patient as if awaiting an order.</p><p> </p><p>“I do admire your kind’s loyalty,” he says with a smile.</p><p> </p><p>Cassius sits up and happily wags his tail.</p><p> </p><p>“Now go on, you know what happens when you leave your body for too long.”</p><p> </p><p>God reaches down and rubs Cassius’s head. When his hand reaches into the shadow that forms his skull, a strange light reveals what appears to be a human head covered in dark brown hair.</p><p> </p><p>“Go,” he says.</p><p> </p><p>The shadow disappears and shifts. He hears the pitter-patter of feet before the room becomes slightly lighter. He sighs and turns to her.</p><p> </p><p>“Well, I believe that is my cue to leave,” he says, “You should only have another day or so of this. Then the dreams will disappear. You will continue to have slight aberrations from humanity, unfortunately. I can’t do much about that. But no wings, so … that’s good.”</p><p> </p><p>She gasps, but even with her focus on not aspirating her vomit, she manages to pull a hand up and flip God off.</p><p> </p><p>He chuckles then disappears.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>--</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>The door to Ella’s apartment opens up, and she steps in, her backpack under her arm and a pharmacy bag in the other hand. She sets her keys down on the counter and cuts the light on. Then she sets the pharmacy bag on the counter in the kitchen and tosses the backpack towards the couch in the living room.</p><p> </p><p>She sighs, her mind a jumble of thoughts and emotions, and opens up the bag. Inside, she has prenatal vitamins,a packet of chips, and a box of condoms. She picks up the box of condoms and huffs.</p><p> </p><p>“Lot of good you did,” she says to herself before unpacking it and tossing the plastic bag into a drawer beneath her sink.</p><p> </p><p>There is a knock on the door, and she turns to it. She takes a deep breath and walks over to it.</p><p> </p><p>Abel stands with a slice of cheesecake in front of his face and a broad grin.</p><p> </p><p>She looks at him and smiles, “You got here fast.”</p><p> </p><p>He leans in and kisses her as he walks in, “You sounded upset on the phone, so I stopped and got you a slice of your favorite.”</p><p> </p><p>She closes the door and smiles, “Thanks,” she says.</p><p> </p><p>“You want it now or after sex?” he asks.</p><p> </p><p>She shakes her head, a grin on her face, “Your presumption that we are going to have sex is kind of rude.”</p><p> </p><p>“Well,” he says, turning his eyes to the condoms on the counter, “am I wrong?”</p><p> </p><p>She shakes her head and sighs, “I’ll take it now,” she says.</p><p> </p><p>“Thought so,” he says, handing her the carton. He walks over to a drawer and pulls out a fork for her.</p><p> </p><p>“So what’s up? Rough day?” he asks, sliding the drawer closed with his hips and handing her the fork.</p><p> </p><p>“Uh … kinda,” she says, fiddling with the lid.</p><p> </p><p>She heels her boots off and kicks them to a spot by the door. He takes his time to slip the walking shoes off his feet and sets them down.</p><p> </p><p>“Maybe you should sit,” she says, pointing to the sofa.</p><p> </p><p>He furrows his eyebrows and looks at her nervously.</p><p> </p><p>“Uh, okay,” he says.</p><p> </p><p>He moves to sit on the couch, and she sits in the spot next to him. She looks at the cheesecake for a moment and sets the carton on the coffee table. She sets the fork on top of it and turns to him.</p><p> </p><p>He looks at her, his eyes taking in every bit about her form. Something is wrong.</p><p> </p><p>“What’s wrong?” he asks.</p><p> </p><p>“I uhm, I have something I want to tell you,” she says.</p><p> </p><p>“Okay,” he says, his face scrunched in confusion and fear.</p><p> </p><p>“I uhm … well at work today, Chloe was …,” she pauses and thinks it might not be best to spill Chloe’s business.</p><p> </p><p>She shakes her head. He watches her, scanning her for any clue of what this might be. His mind immediately goes to the worst thing possible.</p><p> </p><p>“Forget I said that. I meant-“</p><p> </p><p>“Ella, are you breaking up with me?” he asks, his words indicating he was on the verge of crying.</p><p> </p><p>She looks at him like he is crazy.</p><p> </p><p>“Are you serious?” she asks, “No!”</p><p> </p><p>She playfully slaps him on the knee, but his face doesn’t change.</p><p> </p><p>“Then what is it? You’re making me nervous.”</p><p> </p><p>She sighs and shakes her head, “You know how you told me that one day you’d want a wife and kids?”</p><p> </p><p>He nods, “Yeah.”</p><p> </p><p>“Well, what if part of that came true sooner than you thought it would.”</p><p> </p><p>A smile widens on his face, “Are you proposing to me?”</p><p> </p><p>She tilts her head and looks at him like he’s an idiot. He catches onto her look, then his smile falls.</p><p> </p><p>He stares at her for a second, then his eyes widen.</p><p> </p><p>“Are you saying you want kids?” he asks.</p><p> </p><p>“I’m saying we’re not really going to have a choice,” she says.</p><p> </p><p>He stares at her for far longer than she thought he would.</p><p> </p><p>“Abel?” she asks, his glance never changing.</p><p> </p><p>“Wait,” he says, tears welling in his eyes.</p><p> </p><p>“Really?” he asks, his voice pitching at the end of his sentence.</p><p> </p><p>It forces a small smile on her face. She nods and turns to the backpack on her couch. She fumbles around inside a bite before pulling out the pregnancy test. She hands it to him, and he looks at it.</p><p> </p><p>“What the fuck does that mean?” he says, blinking as he tries to clear tears from his eyes.</p><p> </p><p>She chuckles, “It means I’m pregnant.”</p><p> </p><p>He snaps his head to her, stares at her for a second, then immediately tilts forward and wraps his arms around her. He rocks her, and she chuckles at his response, tears coming to her own eyes.</p><p> </p><p>“Are you serious?” he says, his voice still high pitched.</p><p> </p><p>She nods and wipes tears from her eyes.</p><p> </p><p>“You’re not fucking with me?” he says.</p><p> </p><p>She laughs and shakes her head, “No. I …I randomly took a test today just to you know … help out a friend.”</p><p> </p><p>“What?” he says, pulling away from her to look her in the eyes.</p><p> </p><p>“Don’t ask,” she says, waving him off, “but … I mean, this is just a drug store test. I still have to go to the doctor for them to confirm, but …”</p><p> </p><p>She shrugs and looks at him, “It looks like we’re having a baby.”</p><p> </p><p>He leans in and kisses her before wrapping his arms around her again.</p><p> </p><p>“I mean, this is way sooner than I thought I’d want one and …I mean we’ve only been <em>dating </em>dating for-”</p><p> </p><p>He pulls away from her, his hands cupping her shoulders.</p><p> </p><p>“Our baby will never want for anything,” he says seriously.</p><p> </p><p>She smiles at him and nods. He shakes his head, a smile on his face, in disbelief.</p><p> </p><p>Ella furrows her eyebrows and looks at him.</p><p> </p><p>“Wait, why did you think I was going to break up with you?” she asks.</p><p> </p><p>He turns to her, “well … because you keep yelling at me to put the toilet seat down.”</p><p> </p><p>“I wouldn’t break up with you over that!” she says, playfully slapping his thigh, “just put the toilet seat down.”</p><p> </p><p>He nods, and she turns to the cheesecake.</p><p> </p><p>“Is that why you brought me cheesecake?” she asks.</p><p> </p><p>“That and you sounded upset,” he says before pausing, “wait …are you upset?”</p><p> </p><p>Ella shakes her head, “No, I’m just … I don’t know how to feel.”</p><p> </p><p>“You aren’t excited?” he asks.</p><p> </p><p>She narrows her eyes, “It’s me who’s going to have to push this thing out of my vagina, you <em>do</em> realize that.”</p><p> </p><p>He chuckles and nods.</p><p> </p><p>“Well, in that case,” he says, standing, “I better go get you the rest of the cake.”</p><p> </p><p>She laughs and reaches up to pull him down onto the couch.</p><p> </p><p>Then she leans in and arcs her leg to slide between his. He pulls an arm around her and then pulls her close. She sighs. She looks up at him, then down at the carton of cheesecake. She leans up to grab it and opens it before scooting back into her position beneath his arms. She begins to eat, and he just watches her, a smile on his face.</p><p> </p><p>“What?” she says.</p><p> </p><p>“You’re eating for two now,” he smiles.</p><p> </p><p>She rolls her eyes and takes another bite.</p><p> </p><p>He stares at her for a moment, “but we are having sex, right?” he asks.</p><p> </p><p>She looks up at him, aghast.</p><p> </p><p>“You know, to celebrate,” he says.</p><p> </p><p>“You want to celebrate pregnancy with sex?” she says.</p><p> </p><p>“You have a better idea?” he asks.</p><p> </p><p>She pauses, thinks for a moment, and sighs.</p><p> </p><p>“Fine, but after my cheesecake,” she says.</p><p> </p><p>He nods and reaches forward for the remote.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>--</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>The elevator doors to the penthouse open, and Maze trudges in, dropping a satchel of knives by the bar. She grunts, tired, and moves to the bar to pour herself a drink.</p><p> </p><p>She reaches for the decanter of whiskey and pours herself a shot before downing it in one gulp. Her phone rings just as she sets the glass down. She reaches into her pocket and answers.</p><p> </p><p>“Yo,” she says.</p><p> </p><p>“Made it home yet?” Natalie asks.</p><p> </p><p>“Yeah, I just got in. Finally got that asshole. Wasn’t easy, though,” she says, stretching her arms.</p><p> </p><p>She leans down and unties her shows.</p><p> </p><p>“Are you still coming over?” Natalie asks.</p><p> </p><p>“Yeah, just let me shower first, you do <em>not</em> want to smell me right now,” she says before pausing.</p><p> </p><p>“or maybe you do?” Maze asks, her voice sultry.</p><p> </p><p>“Not at all, Ms. Smith,” Natalie says.</p><p> </p><p>“<em>Ooh</em>, save the dirty talk for the bedroom,” Maze says.</p><p> </p><p>Natalie chuckles.</p><p> </p><p>“Alright, I’ll hop in the shower and call you when I’m on my way,” Maze says, peeling off a boot and setting it on a shoe rack by the elevator.</p><p> </p><p>“Okay,” Natalie responds.</p><p> </p><p>The phone hangs up, and Maze stares at it for a moment, a grin on her face before sighing, content. She sets the phone on the bar and slides her shirt off.</p><p> </p><p>Moments later, she is beneath the warm jets of a hot shower and washing away the stress of the day.</p><p> </p><p>She washes before taking a moment to just sit beneath the water. She sighs before leaning up and cutting the water off. She steps out and grabs a towel off the hook nearby, and dries herself down. She turns to the mirror and wipes it down to reveal her wet hair and flush skin.</p><p> </p><p>“I’m so fucking hot,” she says before opening the towel and looking at the goods, “it’s a little unfair.”</p><p> </p><p>She nods at herself, pleased by what she sees. She ties the towel closed and opens the door to the bathroom. Here she steps out into the bedroom and turns to find Natalie standing in her living room wearing nothing but thin lace underwear.</p><p> </p><p>She pauses a second, surprised before her eyes roll down Natalie’s body.</p><p> </p><p>“Huh,” she says, delighted as she approaches the steps, “I don’t believe I ordered delivery, but … I’m glad it came.”</p><p> </p><p>Natalie smiles.</p><p> </p><p>“I wanted to surprise you,” Natalie says.</p><p> </p><p>“I hate surprises.”</p><p> </p><p>“I thought you might like this one,” she says, tilting her head as Maze visually devours her.</p><p> </p><p>Natalie moves closer, closing the distance between them.</p><p> </p><p>“I thought we could celebrate the one-month anniversary of us being <em>official</em>, official.”</p><p> </p><p>“I’m ready to celebrate,” Maze says, “let me get my cuffs.”</p><p> </p><p>Maze moves to walk around Natalie before Natalie holds a handout and stops her.</p><p> </p><p>“I thought uh … I thought we might try something different. If like, you know … that’s okay with you,” Natalie says.</p><p> </p><p>Maze regards her for a while, noticing a strange nervousness in her.</p><p> </p><p>“Oh, this must be good if you are nervous about it. I’m down, just … no needles or like-“</p><p> </p><p>“No, it’s … it’s nothing like that.”</p><p> </p><p>Maze seems intrigued, a small grin on her face.</p><p> </p><p>“I got you something first,” Natalie says before turning to the bar and pulling a wrapped box from her purse.</p><p> </p><p>She hands it to Maze, and Maze looks at it oddly.</p><p> </p><p>“A gift?” she asks, her eyebrow raised.</p><p> </p><p>“Yeah, open it,” Natalie says nervously.</p><p> </p><p>Maze huffs and rips the paper open to reveal a box with an image of a butterfly knife on it.</p><p> </p><p>She raises her eyes, “A butterfly knife,” she says before pausing, “A really <em>gay</em> butterfly knife.”</p><p> </p><p>Natalie grins widely, “open the box.”</p><p> </p><p>Maze looks at Natalie suspiciously before tossing the paper to the floor and prying open the box.</p><p> </p><p>“You remember the dinner we had? With Liz and Maggie?”</p><p> </p><p>“You mean the two assholes that I never want to see you around again?”</p><p> </p><p>Natalie chuckles and rolls her eyes, “You remember what you told me? About my blade?”</p><p> </p><p>Maze pulls the knife out and flicks it open to reveal a double-serrated needle point blade.</p><p> </p><p>“Oh,” she says, pleasantly surprised.</p><p> </p><p>“I don’t really need that kind of stopping power for much, but …you know a lot about blades,” Natalie says.</p><p> </p><p>Maze nods, “I do.”</p><p> </p><p>“So, I thought it would be a good way to start … to indicate my trust for you. I trust that you know what you are talking about, and I trust that you have my best interest in mind.”</p><p> </p><p>Maze stares at her, unsure she knows what to say.</p><p> </p><p>“I …trust you, and maybe it’s time I start showing you how much I trust you.”</p><p> </p><p>“So, you got me a gift that’s really a gift for you?” Maze says, “I don’t think that’s how gift-giving works.”</p><p> </p><p>Natalie chuckles and grabs the knife from Maze’s hand. Maze willingly lets her take it.</p><p> </p><p>“The knife is symbolic, Ms. Smith. The real gift is …something far more tangible.”</p><p> </p><p>Natalie walks forward and slides her hands around Maze’s waist, pulling her closer.</p><p> </p><p>“Oh,” Maze says, leaning into an obviously incoming kiss, “I take it back. I like this gift.”</p><p> </p><p>They kiss beneath an amused hum from Natalie.</p><p> </p><p>When they pull away, Maze shrugs off the towel to drop it at her feet.</p><p> </p><p>“Okay, so what is this new thing you want to try?” she asks, holding her hands out as if ready to be cuffed.</p><p> </p><p>Natalie drops her hands down to Maze’s wrists and smiles before shaking her head.</p><p> </p><p>“No cuffs,” she says, pushing Maze’s hands down as she gets closer.</p><p> </p><p>Maze furrows her eyebrows, “No cuffs?”</p><p> </p><p>“No Cuffs,” Natalie repeats.</p><p> </p><p>“Why no cuffs?” Maze asks, a sad confusion behind her voice.</p><p> </p><p>“I uh,” Natalie says, her hands coming down to hold onto Maze’s waist, to pull her closer, “ You know how I’ve been having sessions with Dr. Martin?”</p><p> </p><p>“Is she the one telling you not to use cuffs?” Maze asks, “I’ll kill her.”</p><p> </p><p>Natalie chuckles and shakes her head, “No. No. We will use cuffs just … maybe not tonight?”</p><p> </p><p>Maze looks at Natalie as Natalie avoids her eyesight.</p><p> </p><p>“What’s wrong?” Maze asks, her hands staying by her side, even as Natalie pulls her in.</p><p> </p><p>“She thinks I have a problem with authority and power,” Natalie says.</p><p> </p><p>Maze scoffs, “Yeah, no shit.”</p><p> </p><p>Natalie grins and chuckles. Her smile falls, and she finally looks up at Maze, so much want and fear behind her eyes that it makes Maze pause.</p><p> </p><p>“I trust you,” she says, “and you know it’s hard for me to trust people.”</p><p> </p><p>“Give me a name,” Maze says, “I’ll ... I’ll talk some sense into them. With knives.”</p><p> </p><p>Natalie chuckles and shakes her head, “No, it has nothing to do with anyone else. It’s you and me.”</p><p> </p><p>“Okay,” Maze says, unsure of what is happening.</p><p> </p><p>“I was thinking ... what better way to demonstrate my trust for you than willingly giving up something that I apparently cling to.”</p><p> </p><p>Maze stares at her, unsure of what Natalie is talking about. Natalie smiles and brings her arms up to wrap around Maze’s neck.</p><p> </p><p>“Control,” she says.</p><p> </p><p>Maze furrows her eyebrows, and slowly she begins to understand what Natalie is getting at.</p><p> </p><p>Natalie timidly smiles.</p><p> </p><p>“I … you don’t have to do this,” Maze says.</p><p> </p><p>Natalie scoffs, astonished, “and<em> that</em> is exactly why I want to.”</p><p> </p><p>Natalie leans in and kisses Maze. It is soft and full of love. Maze cautiously brings her hands to wrap around Natalie’s waist. Natalie doesn’t move her hands off, and it spurs Maze on. The kiss becomes more passionate, needier, until Natalie pulls away.</p><p> </p><p>“Before we start, though-“ she begins.</p><p> </p><p>“Nuh-uh, I’m in control, remember?” Maze says, leaning in.</p><p> </p><p>Natalie pulls away, and Maze groans.</p><p> </p><p>“Well, so much for that idea,” she says with a cheeky grin.</p><p> </p><p>Natalie shakes her head, “No, I want to. It’s just … before we do anything, I want to warn you about something.”</p><p> </p><p>“I’ve seen It all, I’m not worried,” Maze says, moving forward.</p><p> </p><p>Natalie pushes her away, and Maze raises her hands, illustrating she’ll back off.</p><p> </p><p>“I just … I have this thing, and I just don’t want you to think it has anything to do with you. It’s me and my problem and-“</p><p> </p><p>Maze just shakes her head, “what thing?”</p><p> </p><p>Natalie sighs and prepares herself.</p><p> </p><p>“I uhm,” she says, fiddling with her hands, “I … might not … I might not cum.”</p><p> </p><p>Maze grins, “oh you’ll cum,” she says</p><p> </p><p>Natalie smiles, alleviation in Maze’s joking.</p><p> </p><p>“Your confidence is sexy, Ms. Smith, albeit stupid.”</p><p> </p><p>“It’s not confidence if I know it will happen,” Maze responds.</p><p> </p><p>“It might, but  - much more likely -  It might not,” she reiterates, “and that’s okay. That’s…it’s something I’ve been working through, and it’s fine. We might not get there the first time, or even the second time, but …eventually, we will get there. I mean, that’s if you… you want to try.”</p><p> </p><p>Maze stands there, looking at Natalie, taking in her shape. She tilts her head and smiles.</p><p> </p><p>“I do,” she says.</p><p> </p><p>Natalie smiles, “yeah?”</p><p> </p><p>“Yeah,” Maze replies.</p><p> </p><p>“I just don’t want you to think it has anything to do with you. It’s …something I’m working through but-“</p><p> </p><p>“It’s fine,” Maze says, “all this explaining is ruining the mood.”</p><p> </p><p>Natalie smiles and approaches Maze again. They kiss, and Maze carefully wraps her arms around Natalie’s back, her hands slowly creeping onto Natalie’s ass. Natalie tenses for a moment but eventually relaxes.</p><p> </p><p>“I was the best torturer in hell,” Maze says, her lips going down to Natalie’s neck.</p><p> </p><p>“I know,” Natalie says, her response breathy.</p><p> </p><p>“You still want me to take the reins?” Maze asks.</p><p> </p><p>Natalie stares out towards the bedroom behind them. She pauses, hesitates before nodding.</p><p> </p><p>“Yes,” she replies.</p><p> </p><p>“Mmm,” Maze says, “let’s start with something you’re familiar with, yeah?”</p><p> </p><p>Maze pulls away before setting a hand on Natalie’s shoulder and pushing down. Natalie eventually gets the gist and falls to her knees.</p><p> </p><p>Maze kicks her foot up, resting it on Natalie’s shoulder.</p><p> </p><p>“Lick me,” Maze orders.</p><p> </p><p>Natalie hesitates for a moment before nodding and pulling herself closer. Maze allows her leg to slide over Natalie’s shoulder as she gets closer.</p><p> </p><p>She sighs as she feels Natalie’s tongue exploring her lips, sinking past them into the growing wetness. She laughs, amused, when Natalie’s tongue finds her clit.</p><p> </p><p>“Mmm,” Maze hums.</p><p> </p><p>Natalie closes her eyes, enjoying this. Giving up control wasn’t that bad if she still ended up getting what she wanted. She opens her eyes, and they roll up to Maze’s face. Her face of pleasure.</p><p> </p><p>A hand comes down, and Maze lovingly cups her hand around Natalie’s head before holding tightly on to her hair, getting a fist full to hold her there. Natalie blinks, trying to stave off the panic wanting to grow in her chest. The idea of not able to leave buried into her head. That Maze was being forceful. That she needed to getaway. She holds it off as much as possible before she yanks herself away from Maze and stands.</p><p> </p><p>Maze is knocked out of her trance and looks at Natalie, confused.</p><p> </p><p>“Sorry I-“</p><p> </p><p>“It’s okay,” Maze says with a smile.</p><p> </p><p>“I just … I started to panic because your hands,” she says.</p><p> </p><p>Maze raises her hands in the air, “That’s fine. We can do this without hands.”</p><p> </p><p>Natalie shakes her head and crosses her arms, “Sorry, maybe we should just … stop, you know? Try another night?”</p><p> </p><p>Maze nods and sighs, “Sure.”</p><p> </p><p>She reaches down and picks up the towel at her feet before wrapping it around her.</p><p> </p><p>“I’ll go put some clothes on, and we can watch something on the TV,” Maze says.</p><p> </p><p>Natalie watches Maze walk away, her eyebrows furrowed.</p><p> </p><p>“Wait, really?” Natalie asks.</p><p> </p><p>Maze nods, “Yeah. I think we’ve watched all the documentaries on Netflix, so we might have to do some deep dives into YouTube or something. You pick the topic,” Maze says as she disappears into the closet.</p><p> </p><p>“I’ve been doing a lot of reading into web-spinning, don’t ask, so maybe something with spiders?” Maze continues.</p><p> </p><p>Natalie stands there, shell shocked for a moment.</p><p> </p><p>“Uh,” Natalie says, walking up the steps and standing in front of the walkway to the closet.</p><p> </p><p>She watches as Maze opens a drawer and slips on some underwear.</p><p> </p><p>“Are you shitting me?” she asks.</p><p> </p><p>Maze stops and looks at Natalie.</p><p> </p><p>“What?”</p><p> </p><p>“You’re just going to stop, just like that?”</p><p> </p><p>Maze looks at Natalie as though she has no clue why Natalie would be upset.</p><p> </p><p>“Uh yeah.”</p><p> </p><p>Natalie furrows her eyebrows.</p><p> </p><p>“Why? You’re supposed to be in control.”</p><p> </p><p>Maze scoffs, “I have no interest in doing anything you don’t want to do. I made that clear.”</p><p> </p><p>Natalie just stares at her for a moment.</p><p> </p><p>“Besides, control and <em>controlling</em> are two different things. If you want me to dominate you, I will do that, but I will never force you. Ever. You should know this,<em> Mistress</em>. This is like BDSM 101.”</p><p> </p><p>Natalie stands there, completely in awe. Maze snaps the band around her waist, seeing Natalie staring at her like she just had her mind exploded.</p><p> </p><p>Maze narrows her eyes and walks out of the closet towards Natalie. They stare at one another for a moment before Maze nods.</p><p> </p><p>“What’s your safeword?” she asks.</p><p> </p><p>Natalie moves her mouth as if she wants to say something but nothing comes out. Maze tilts her head, her eyes indicating she needs a word.</p><p> </p><p>“I … uh … dragonfruit,” Natalie says.</p><p> </p><p>Maze nods, “Technically, that is two words but whatever,” she says before she takes Natalie’s hand.</p><p> </p><p>She leads her over to the bed and sits her down.</p><p> </p><p>“I’m going to make you cum,” she says, “and all the weird shit in your head is going stop, and we’re going to have a great night.”</p><p> </p><p>Natalie scoffs, “I don’t think that’s how any of that works.”</p><p> </p><p>Maze shrugs, “maybe, but let’s start with the easy part, yeah? Lay down.”</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Chapter 4</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p> </p><p>Natalie turns to the bed behind her then turns to observe Maze for a while. After a brief moment, she turns and slides further back on the bed. Here she softly lays down and gets comfortable.</p><p> </p><p>Maze climbs onto the bed and slides her knee between Natalie’s legs. Natalie bolts up, but Maze puts a hand on her chest.</p><p> </p><p>“Easy,” she says, feeling Natalie’s heart beating fast.</p><p> </p><p>Natalie looks at the hand on her chest as Maze adds pressure, making Natalie lay back down.</p><p> </p><p>Natalie does, trying to shut out the rising nervousness in her body.</p><p> </p><p>Maze removes her hands and leans in, setting her palms on either side of Natalie’s torso.</p><p> </p><p>“Now, in Hell, I got so good at torture that I didn’t even have to touch them. The anticipation of torture was enough to get most to scream.”</p><p> </p><p>Natalie’s eye ping pong between Maze’s, that strange innocence behind them that Maze has learned to love. Learned to want to protect.</p><p> </p><p>“I’m not going to touch you,” Maze says, “and if you feel at any point it’s too much, you tell me your safe word and I’ll stop, okay? We’ll go watch something on the internet.”</p><p> </p><p>Natalie nods.</p><p> </p><p>Maze smiles and leans in, pressing a light kiss on her lips.</p><p> </p><p>“You can touch me,” Maze says, “but I won’t touch you. Deal?”</p><p> </p><p>Natalie nods her head and tilts her neck as Maze plants light kisses down her neck. Natalie hums, content. Maze makes no mention of the goosebumps crawling down Natalie’s body.</p><p> </p><p>Maze softly moves down to Natalie’s collarbone, here she licks and nips at it as Natalie tilts her head upwards, exposing her neck more. It makes Maze lick up the length of her throat before landing on the side of her neck. Here she nibbles at the spot behind her ear and elicits a pleasing sound from Natalie.</p><p> </p><p>It’s soft and somewhat stifled, but it’s a moan.</p><p> </p><p>“If you know the spots,” Maze whispers, her lips ghosting over Natalie’s neck as she makes her way back down, “you can produce any feeling you want.”</p><p> </p><p>She traces kisses down the center of Natalie’s chest before she comes to her first obstacle; her brassiere.</p><p> </p><p>Maze bites at the fabric, then licks and teases around its edges.</p><p> </p><p>“Take it off,” she whispers, her breath hot against Natalie’s skin.</p><p> </p><p>Natalie quickly reaches back and pulls the snap on her bra before sliding her arms out.</p><p> </p><p>Maze then kisses her way to a breast, avoiding the nipple and staying around the outside of the areola. She kisses and licks and does everything but what Natalie really wants her to do.</p><p> </p><p>Everything but popping a nipple into her mouth and licking it until Natalie begs to cum.</p><p>Instead, Maze tortures herself, and Natalie in the process, by avoiding it. She hovers over the nipple moving from one side of the breast to the other, her hot breathe the only thing that touches the nipple. Natalie arcs her body into Maze’s lips, but Maze does well to avoid her nipple.</p><p> </p><p>That is when she begins feeling Natalie’s hips move against her leg. Circling and trying to get any touch she can find. Maze raises her knee, pushing it closer to the heat between Natalie’s thighs. When it lands close to her body, Natalie begins to grind against her thigh, a lovely pressure that makes her more audible.</p><p> </p><p>Meanwhile, Maze’s lips have moved back up to Natalie’s neck, her tongue tracing behind her ear. It causes Natalie to shudder and pant.</p><p> </p><p>“I don’t have to touch you,” Maze says, moving and planting kisses down her neck and chest, “but imagine if I could.”</p><p> </p><p>Natalie closes her eyes, allowing Maze’s kisses to leave prints on the fresh snow in her mind. And it is snow, judging by the goosebumps on her body and the warm fire radiating from between her legs.</p><p> </p><p>Here, beneath the towering shadow of Maze’s body, she believes it might be the safest she’s felt in years. Her own personal demon, here to protect her, to love her, to allow her to be as fucked up as she wants to be without judgment.</p><p> </p><p>There is power in that, in feeling so <em>untouchable</em>.</p><p> </p><p>It is intoxicating.</p><p> </p><p>Maze’s kisses a trail down her body, barely ghosting over her skin until they reach the valley between her breasts.</p><p> </p><p>Then Maze’s lips trace the fold beneath her breast. Natalie arcs her chest up, wanting more touch.</p><p> </p><p>Instead, her skin meets teeth. Maze is grinning.</p><p> </p><p>“Is this payback?” Natalie huffs, “for all those times, I kept you on edge?”</p><p> </p><p>Maze chuckles and shakes her head, “not yet.”</p><p> </p><p>Natalie groans as she grinds herself up against Maze’s leg, leaving a trail of wetness that soaks through the thin lace of her panties.</p><p> </p><p>Natalie reaches down and slips her hands beneath the band of her underwear. Maze turns to look, thinking Natalie is stimulating herself. Instead, she is sliding her underwear off. Maze moves out the way, allowing Natalie to kick the underwear off and to the ground.</p><p> </p><p>Then Maze retakes her position, her thigh pressed between Natalie’s leg.</p><p> </p><p>Natalie immediately starts to grind against her, flesh on flesh. Her moans become unmistakable.</p><p> </p><p>Maze continues down, kissing a trail down the center of her abdomen before arriving at her navel. Here, she sticks a tongue in, and Natalie immediately yelps, then pushes Maze’s head away.</p><p> </p><p>“That tickles,” she says.</p><p> </p><p>Maze smiles, “No tickles. Got it.”</p><p> </p><p>Natalie smiles, and Maze goes back to licking around Natalie’s navel. She pulls her knee from between Natalie’s legs as she descends lower. Her tongue traces words over Natalie’s pubic bone, as if Maze were marking her with saliva. Then, Maze’s tongue lands on Natalie’s hip, and then to the flesh of her thigh.</p><p> </p><p>Natalie squirms, hoping for a touch that will never come. Instead, Maze kisses everything except the hot and wet lips between Natalie’s legs.</p><p> </p><p>When Maze starts making her way back up, Natalie grunts in frustration.</p><p> </p><p>Maze laughs and immediately comes up to kiss Natalie.</p><p> </p><p>When they pull away, she goes back to nibbling on Natalie’s ears.</p><p> </p><p>“I’m going to wait until you want me,” she whispers hot into Natalie’s ears, “and then I’m going to wait some more.”</p><p> </p><p>Maze’s thigh goes back to its place between Natalie’s legs, and immediately Natalie is back to grinding against her. She’s even wetter now judging by the heat radiating off of her.</p><p> </p><p>Natalie’s hands come up, wrapping around Maze and trying to pull her closer. Maze stays steady against her.</p><p> </p><p>“I’m close,” Natalie huffs, grabbing Maze’s arm, trying to move her hands to be touched anywhere.</p><p> </p><p>“I’ve waited so long for this, you think I’m going to let it end now?” Maze asks, her hot breath ghosting down Natalie’s neck.</p><p> </p><p>“The truth is,” Maze whispers, “I don’t want you to cum. I want to extend this out until you are begging me. <em>That</em>, is payback.”</p><p> </p><p>Natalie reaches up, pulls Maze’s face forwards hers, and kisses her passionately. The utter neediness in it jolts Maze out of her play. For a second, she forgets what she is doing. Her hand comes up and softly touches the side of Natalie’s abs, right above her hips.</p><p> </p><p>Natalie moans at the touch, a wildness and urgency behind her eyes.</p><p> </p><p>“Please, I’m so close,” she whines.</p><p> </p><p>Maze sighs and nods.</p><p> </p><p>“Fine,” Maze says reluctantly before she is scooting down on the bed and has her head between Natalie’s legs.</p><p> </p><p>She licks Natalie’s thigh on one side, then the other. She takes the scent in, happy to finally be here. Like she had waited – she <em>had</em> waited – two years for this.</p><p> </p><p>When her tongue finally connects with Natalie’s pussy. Natalie’s head falls back on the bed, and she gasps.</p><p> </p><p>Maze licks and laps at her, reveling in the taste as if it was the sweetest reward for torture she had ever gotten.</p><p> </p><p>“Oh,” Natalie huffs, “Oh … oh shit, you’re <em>good</em> at that.”</p><p> </p><p>“uh-huh,” Maze hums, her tongue too busy to for words.</p><p> </p><p>When Liz did this, it did <em>not </em>feel this way, Natalie thinks.</p><p> </p><p>Maze pushes herself further into Natalie, enough that her mouth latches around her clit, and suddenly Natalie is way more vocal than she is used to.</p><p> </p><p>“Oh fuck!” she screams, her hands immediately coming down to wrap around Maze’s head.</p><p> </p><p>“Yes, yes! I’m so close,” she whines, her hips gyrating against Maze.</p><p> </p><p>Maze reaches her hands out to steady her against the bed. She looks up, a little annoyed by the fact she was supposed to have control, but it seems like – yet again – Natalie is in charge.</p><p> </p><p>That annoyance fades, however, when she sees Natalie in the throws of pleasure. It’s kind of worth it.</p><p> </p><p>“Shit,” Natalie huffs, “please … please,” she begs.</p><p> </p><p>Maze goes back to what she is doing, focusing on moving her lips and her tongue in a way that should have Natalie’s body shaking with orgasm by now. Instead, Natalie clings on, her face scrunched like she is fighting.</p><p> </p><p>“Please,” she begs.</p><p> </p><p>Maze continues, but eventually, Natalie falls flat on the bed. Her hands come from around Maze’s head and land on her forehead.</p><p> </p><p>She looks upset.</p><p> </p><p>Maze stops what he is doing and leans up to Natalie.</p><p> </p><p>“What’s wrong?” Maze asks.</p><p> </p><p>“It’s not going to happen,” she says, trying to hold back the fact that she is upset.</p><p> </p><p>That she wants to cry. That she feels broken.</p><p> </p><p>Maze nods and lays flat against Natalie before moving in and sliding her hand beneath Natalie’s hips, holding her.</p><p> </p><p>Natalie sighs and thinks.</p><p> </p><p>It is silent for a long time.</p><p> </p><p>“I’m sorry,” Natalie says sadly.</p><p> </p><p>“No, I’m sorry. Usually, that works,” Maze says.</p><p> </p><p>“I told you I … it’s hard for me.”</p><p> </p><p>“Mmm,” Maze says.</p><p> </p><p>“But we can do you, you know …if you want.”</p><p> </p><p>Maze turns her head towards Natalie and rests her chin against her stomach.</p><p> </p><p>“Nah, I kind of want to continue if you don’t mind.”</p><p> </p><p>“What?” Natalie says.</p><p> </p><p>“Yeah, I want to go back to eating you out.”</p><p> </p><p>“But I’m not going to cum,” Natalie says, “there’s no point.”</p><p> </p><p>Maze shrugs, “you don’t understand how long I’ve been waiting to do that. I could literally stay down there for hours and be okay with you not cumming. Just give me like five more minutes, and then we can watch whatever you want.”</p><p> </p><p>Natalie just stares at Maze, her eyes narrowed.</p><p> </p><p>“Uh … okay, I guess.”</p><p> </p><p>“Deal,” Maze says before sliding back down Natalie’s body and sinking her tongue into Natalie again.</p><p> </p><p>Natalie watches her for a second as Maze closes her eyes and goes to town.</p><p> </p><p>“Huh,” she says, “you would be totally fine with just licking me and nothing happening?”</p><p> </p><p>Maze hums and nods before locking her lips around Natalie’s clit again.</p><p> </p><p>Natalie gasps then spreads her legs wider.</p><p> </p><p>“I mean, it’s not a bad feeling,” Natalie says.</p><p> </p><p>Maze chuckles, amused.</p><p> </p><p>Natalie lays back down as Maze continues to lick her. She lets go a deep sigh then sits back up and watches Maze enjoy herself.</p><p> </p><p>She watches and watches, and eventually, Maze looks up. They lock eyes, and Natalie reaches a hand down, brushing the hair out of Maze’s eyes.</p><p> </p><p>“I must say, you look beautiful with your mouth on my pussy,” Natalie says.</p><p> </p><p>Maze smiles and pulls away, “yeah?” she asks before going back to business.</p><p> </p><p>Natalie tilts her head and nods, “yeah. I should take a picture and frame it.”</p><p> </p><p>Maze chuckles.</p><p> </p><p>Natalie lays back and rests her head on her arm. She sighs and extends her body, tilting her pelvis upward.</p><p> </p><p>“Mmm,” she hums, “You are good at that. I will give you credit for that. I will <em>definitely</em> be using this for fuel later on.”</p><p> </p><p>Maze hums, pleased by that. She pulls away again.</p><p> </p><p>“We could watch each other again,” Maze says before sticking her tongue out and running it up Natalie’s inner labia. Then it moves up to her clit, soft and wide and warm.</p><p> </p><p>“I would like that,” Natalie says, smiling.</p><p> </p><p>But clearly not now. No, at this particular juncture in time, Maze is preoccupied with enjoying her gift. And, if she had to admit it, Natalie didn’t mind. Maze was definitely better at this than Liz. Maze also made it clear, through her actions, that Natalie called the shots, even if she was the one on her back. It makes her drop her guard, and her body relaxes into the bed.</p><p> </p><p>Natalie watches as Maze runs her tongue in circles around her clit. It feels good, but … it’s not getting her there. She sighs before turning and looking around.</p><p> </p><p>“Hold on,” she says, twisting her body so she can reach the nightstand.</p><p> </p><p>Here she grabs a remote and lays back down. Maze gets back to what she was doing.</p><p> </p><p>Natalie presses a button on the remote. A Smart TV built into a new cabinet on the back wall rises from the top of the cabinet. It cuts on, and she navigates to the Youtube app.</p><p> </p><p>Maze continues to hum and lick. She snakes her hand between her legs and begins to rub herself.</p><p> </p><p>Natalie turns the remote over to reveal a keyboard.</p><p> </p><p>“What was that spider you were talking about?” Natalie asks.</p><p> </p><p>Maze pulls away from her for a second and turns to the TV.</p><p> </p><p>“Look up super spiders,” Maze says before going back to what she was doing.</p><p> </p><p>“Okay,” Natalie says, typing it in.</p><p> </p><p>Then she sees a new documentary.</p><p> </p><p>“Oh!” she says.</p><p> </p><p>Maze looks up at her, and Natalie turns to her.</p><p> </p><p>“Oh, no, not you, I was talking about YouTube. I found a documentary on spiders,” she says before turning back to the TV and pressing play.</p><p> </p><p>The documentary begins to play, and Natalie sets the remote down next to her and watches.</p><p> </p><p>Chilling music plays over macro shots of spider parts. Natalie’s shoulders relax into the bed, and she turns to watch it.</p><p> </p><p>“It has fangs,” a British female voice begins, “and eight long hairy legs.”</p><p> </p><p>Maze continues to have her own little party between Natalie’s legs. Maze’s fingers have made their way into Maze’s pussy, and she openly moans, utterly unaware of what is going on elsewhere.</p><p> </p><p>Natalie’s eyes roam down to watch Maze still lapping between her legs. She turns back to the documentary, oddly soothed.</p><p> </p><p>“It is the creature we’ve been taught to fear,” the voice continues.</p><p> </p><p>More macro shots of hairy spider parts. It is possibly the least sexy thing anyone could ever come up with. Yet the more Natalie watches, the more her eyebrows furrow.</p><p> </p><p>What Maze is doing starts to feel better, <em>much</em> better.</p><p> </p><p>She turns back to watch Maze again before turning her eyes to the documentary.</p><p> </p><p>She knows not to get her hopes up, she is resigned to not having anything happen, and Maze seems okay with that. Her shoulders relax into the bed, relieved a little at the lack of pressure.</p><p> </p><p>“And yet, spiders are amazingly talented,” the British voice says.</p><p> </p><p>Natalie huffs, a warm wave coming over her that causes her to start panting.</p><p> </p><p>“Mm,” she says, turning to Maze,” You … you’re <em>really </em>good at that.”</p><p> </p><p>Maze chuckles.</p><p> </p><p>Natalie watches her, her hips getting into the mix as she rotates into Mazes touch. She tilts her head back and moans before her eyes turn back to the documentary.</p><p> </p><p>“Females are very aggressive,” a biologist says, “females will often attack the male because if it’s a bad mate, it is a potentially good meal.”</p><p> </p><p>Natalie scoffs, amused, and turns back to Maze.</p><p>.</p><p>Maze, her eyes fully closed, is completely unaware of the world around her as she happily licks and laps at Natalie.</p><p> </p><p>Natalie reaches a hand up to her mouth and bites her finger. She watches Maze take the movement of her hips in stride, never faltering from her rhythm. Yeah, she is<em> definitely</em> going to use this later.</p><p> </p><p>Maze hands still work diligently between her legs, and Natalie sits up slightly, unable to see what her hand is doing but able to tell it’s doing something.</p><p> </p><p>“Are you touching yourself?” she asks.</p><p> </p><p>Maze nods into her, her eyes opening and moving to Natalie.</p><p> </p><p>They stare at one another for a moment. Natalie grins through her teeth, an unusual playfulness behind her words.</p><p> </p><p>“You like the way that tastes?” Natalie asks.</p><p> </p><p>Maze nods, her eyes gleaming with joy.</p><p> </p><p>Natalie spreads her legs wider, and her jaw drops as Maze takes it upon herself to unlatch from her clit and lick between her folds, diving inside momentarily with her tongue.</p><p> </p><p>It feels <em>really </em>good, but Natalie doesn’t say anything. No point in getting either of their hopes up.</p><p> </p><p>Then Maze sits up a bit, her face covered in wetness.</p><p> </p><p>“How do you feel about fingers?” she asks.</p><p> </p><p>Natalie tenses a bit, “I uh … yeah, I guess,” she says.</p><p> </p><p>“You sure?” Maze asks.</p><p> </p><p>Natalie nods.</p><p> </p><p>Maze smiles and brings her hand up. She sucks a finger into her mouth, getting her finger wet before slowly bringing it down and sliding it into Natalie’s wetness.</p><p> </p><p>Natalie doesn’t really respond to that. She just lays there looking slightly uncomfortable. Maze notices it and pulls her finger out.</p><p> </p><p>“Nah, you don’t like that,” Maze says.</p><p> </p><p>“No, I … it’s fine I just-“</p><p> </p><p>“No,” Maze says sternly, going back to licking.</p><p> </p><p>A hot wave of heat roams over Natalie again, and Maze hums.</p><p> </p><p>“Mmm, you’re so wet,” Maze says, pulling away for a second before going back to it.</p><p> </p><p>“Say it again,” Natalie demands.</p><p> </p><p>Maze looks up at her, confusion in her eyes for a moment before she understands.</p><p> </p><p>A smile forms on her mouth, and she pulls away just long enough to say “No,” again.</p><p> </p><p>As she says it, she grabs Natalie’s legs and pulls Natalie closer towards her mouth, so every inch of her face is jammed between Natalie’s legs. Natalie’s legs fold over her shoulders, her calves touching the back of her thighs.</p><p> </p><p>Then Maze goes back to work, Natalie’s eyelids becoming heavier.</p><p> </p><p>Natalie watches her, pleasant tingles developing in her arms and legs. She turns her eyes back to the documentary. More spiders and more people talking about spiders, but she can’t hear them. Not over the small crescendo inside of her, that feels like she is about to sneeze.</p><p> </p><p>She brings her hand up to her nose and covers it, trying to prevent it from happening, but it doesn’t go away. It just gets larger and larger. She lets out a moan, and an involuntary hand moves down to Maze’s head.</p><p> </p><p>“I think ..., “she says, putting two and two together.</p><p> </p><p>That this sneezing feeling wasn’t originating from her nose.</p><p> </p><p>“I think … I think I’m going to cum,” she says, shocked.</p><p> </p><p>Maze looks up at her, the darkness in her eyes not wavering. Her pace stays the same and doesn’t become frantic or wanting. She just enjoys it.</p><p> </p><p>Natalie lays back on the bed, trying to concentrate on this feeling that was barreling down on her like a semi-truck on the highway. She had been here before, several times in fact. But it always went away.</p><p> </p><p>It always resulted in nothing.</p><p> </p><p>It had always been a point of contention, a desire she wanted so badly with Liz. She wants it so badly with Maze, but the difference is Maze isn’t trying to will her body into doing anything.</p><p> </p><p>She isn’t devoting her energy into forcing something that won’t be. She simply enjoys it for what it is, as proven by her slow and methodical circles around Natalie’s clit and her gentle, yet insistent laps and tongue flicks.</p><p> </p><p>And she hums.</p><p> </p><p>She hums into Natalie’s body like she was quenching a thirst she didn’t know she had.</p><p> </p><p>Or maybe she had known, maybe she always wanted this but hat been patient and waiting. She had never pressured Natalie, and still even refuses her when Natalie is uncertain. Natalie should reward her. Should use her tried and true acting to bolster her and make her feel better.</p><p> </p><p>But that would taint this moment. This moment of being so inconceivably close that she might not <em>need</em> to fake it.</p><p> </p><p>So, she doesn’t do anything. She stays very still as if her orgasm were a deer she was trying hard not to scare away.</p><p> </p><p>She pants, moaning, and allowing her hips to get into the mix. She closes her eyes, focusing only on the delightful actions going on between her legs.</p><p> </p><p>Her jaw slowly opens the closer she gets until suddenly she recognizes it, the point of no return that she has experienced on her own many times.</p><p> </p><p>She pops her eyes open and sits up as much as she can. She stares down at Maze who is … wildly enjoying her time between Natalie’s legs.</p><p> </p><p>“I think …” she begins, her voice tense and her skin on fire.</p><p> </p><p>“I think…,” she continues, her face tightening like she is, in fact, going to sneeze.</p><p> </p><p>“I think I’m going to cum,” she says, surprised, her eyes narrowing as she gets closer.</p><p> </p><p>Maze hums, not surprised at all.</p><p> </p><p>“<em>Oh</em>,” Natalie huffs, shocked.</p><p> </p><p>She tosses her head back, her eyes rolling into her skull before she collapses onto her back in bed. She rolls her hips into Maze’s tongue, her body elongates and completely gives into that mounting feeling.</p><p> </p><p>The one she couldn’t stop even if she tried. It is clear that it is inevitable at this point, and there is no amount of anything she can to prevent it. Not that she wants to. Instead, she willingly surrenders to it.</p><p> </p><p>She is going to have an orgasm. Right now.</p><p> </p><p>“Mazikeen!” she gasps moments before she is sent into a shuddering orgasm that makes her free hand wrap around Maze’s head as well, and her thighs clamp onto Maze’s head.</p><p> </p><p>She gasps, overwhelmed by how much more powerful this is than the one she gives herself.</p><p> </p><p>“Fuck,” she huffs, a whine in her voice that sounds like music to Maze’s ears.</p><p> </p><p><em>“Oh</em>,” she moans, her eyes rolling back in her head.</p><p> </p><p>Her jaw slacks further through each wave until she relaxes back on the bed, completely spent and panting.</p><p> </p><p>Maze’s lapping turns into an amused chuckle as Natalie groans and gasps through the aftershock. Her muscles pop and jump like her entire body is one live wire.</p><p> </p><p>Her eyelids are low, and her jaw open still open. Both because she openly pants, trying to catch her breath, and because she is in shock.</p><p> </p><p>That actually happened. She really just had an orgasm with someone else.</p><p> </p><p>Maze continues to lick before leaning up and kissing her way all the way to Natalie’s mouth. Natalie’s body shudders beneath each kiss, and Maze coos at her responsiveness.</p><p> </p><p>When Maze’s kisses land on Natalie’s mouth, the response is sweet and soft. Natalie’s hands come up to wrap around Maze’s waist, pulling her down to lay on top. They continue kissing until Maze realizes Natalie is starting to cry.</p><p> </p><p>She furrows her eyebrows and pulls away, seeing the water coming from Natalie’s eyes.</p><p> </p><p>“Wha, what did I do? I’m sorry I didn’t mean to fall-“ she begins, starting to move off Natalie.</p><p> </p><p>Natalie shakes her head and holds Maze there, “No, don’t go.”</p><p> </p><p>“You’re crying,” Maze says.</p><p> </p><p>Natalie shakes her head, “I’m …relieved,” she says with a smile.</p><p> </p><p>Maze looks at her oddly.</p><p> </p><p>Natalie chuckle before reaching up and wiping the tears from her eyes.</p><p> </p><p>She reaches a hand up and pulls Maze’s face to hers, kissing her again.</p><p> </p><p>When Maze pulls away, Natalie is grinning from ear to ear.</p><p> </p><p>“What?” she asks.</p><p> </p><p>“Nothing,” Natalie says,” I just … I’m happy I have you.”</p><p> </p><p>Maze grins, “If I would have known you were so clingy after you cum I would have done it sooner.”</p><p> </p><p>Natalie rolls her eyes, a smile permanently plastered on her face.</p><p> </p><p>The smile slowly falls, and she stares at Maze. Maze’s smile falls, and they lock eyes. They sit in silence for a beat before Natalie’s eyes start to hungrily fall down Maze’s body.</p><p> </p><p>“Get the cuffs,” she demands.</p><p> </p><p>Without missing a beat, Maze books it off the bed, “Yes, Mistress,” she says.</p><p> </p><p>What feels like only seconds later, she returns with her metal cufflinks. Natalie grins and sits up on the bed. Maze moves to the remote to cut the documentary off.</p><p> </p><p>“Leave it on,” Natalie says.</p><p> </p><p>Maze stares at her oddly for a second before nodding.</p><p> </p><p>“Yes, Mistress,” she says, holding her wrists out, ready to get cuffed.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>--</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>The years go by relatively uneventfully.</p><p> </p><p>Dan and Jillian break up a year later, after months of trying to make things work. Turns out, celestial knowledge isn’t for everyone. Dan does find someone who can keep up, however, and lives out some of the happiest years of his life. He doesn’t have any more children, but that’s fine with Trixie, who becomes even more of a daddy’s girl.</p><p> </p><p>Speaking of, Trixie gets older and eventually goes to university, where she meets a very nice boy by the name of Johnathon. Johnathon has a girlfriend named Alexis. Trixie likes Alexis, but she also likes Johnathon. Trixie, Alexis, and Johnathon spend a lot of time together. Bubbles eventually moves onto the great dog park in the sky, well his body does. It doesn’t take much convincing for Amenadiel to pop down to Hell and retrieve Cassius to put him into a nice new puppy form; corgi this time. When Trixie graduates, after a few odd jobs at smaller companies, Trixie finally lands a great job as an engineer for NASA. Here she meets the like-minded love of her life, Riley.</p><p> </p><p>Abel changes his robes for sneakers and becomes a Physical Education Teacher, a Shepard of a different kind. Abel and Ella eventually get married and have three beautiful children. Their first child is a girl, but their last two are boys. They fight as siblings do, but they always come together in times of need. Graduations, weddings, and eventually funerals. Their life is relatively normal, and both are pleasantly content with it.</p><p> </p><p>Amenadiel and Linda also spend the rest of Linda’s mortal life together. They never marry, not in the formal sense, but they very much are dedicated to one another. They have two children, both boys, who are the spitting image of their father. The boys are mostly mortal and also fight as siblings do. They’ve met their grandfather only once, on the eve of their mother’s passing. It doesn’t make it less painful. With Linda in Heaven, however,  it makes it easy to continue communicating with her. A simple visit to the silver city from their father to tell Linda the news makes it feel like she never really left.</p><p> </p><p>Natalie and Maze are a slightly different story. They spend most of Natalie’s mortal life just dating, but eventually, they get married. In the legal sense only, of course. Natalie is the one to ask Maze, and an hour later, they are at the courthouse getting married. An hour after that, they are eating shrimp at a restaurant, and an hour after that, Natalie is back at work like nothing happened. In any sense of the word, it is the perfect wedding day.</p><p> </p><p>They complete each other, and together they both explore what it means to be human. But of course, Natalie is mortal, and Maze is not. Eventually, as mortal things are willed to do, Natalie grows old and sheds her vessel. Natalie goes the one place Maze cannot follow her. Maze never takes her ring off.</p><p> </p><p>As for Chloe, she eventually finds a nice man who seems lovely enough. She has a girl with him and, after a very long wait, eventually marries him.</p><p> </p><p>Yes, life for her, save for the few bumpy years in her 30’s and the occasional odd glimpse of celestial curiosities, is as promised.</p><p> </p><p>Happy.</p><p> </p><p>Carefree.</p><p> </p><p>Long.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>So, it is no surprise to her, after being surrounded by loved ones at the hospital, that she wakes in the middle of a white room with a large window that overlooks a clean park. This place is familiar and tangible, definitely not one of her many heaven related dreams.</p><p> </p><p>Birds chirp softly, and a cool breeze comes from the opening in the wall.</p><p> </p><p>She sits up in the bed, and her eyes immediately cast down to her arms to where her skin no longer looks wrinkled and splotchy as she remembers it. She narrows her eyes and casts off the sheets on her body.</p><p> </p><p>She is wearing a hospital gown</p><p> </p><p>“Huh,” she says, piecing together what is going on.</p><p> </p><p>“Alright,” a male voice says.</p><p> </p><p>She turns around to see an angel with a clipboard in his hands.</p><p> </p><p>“You,” she huffs, stepping out of bed.</p><p> </p><p>He looks up at her, narrows his eyes, then turns back to the clipboard.</p><p> </p><p>“One Chloe Jane Decker, Los Angeles, California, Earth. Age 92. Cause of death …” he says, reading the chart, “Oh, natural.”</p><p> </p><p>He looks up to her, pleased, “Good on you! Hardly get many of those anymore. Not since you mortals figured out autoerotic asphyxiation.”</p><p> </p><p>Chloe furrows her eyebrows as if that wasn’t something she wanted to hear.</p><p> </p><p>He chuckles and shakes his head, “Joke … I joke, of course. Well, mostly. You’ll be surprised how many of those we have to deal with.”</p><p> </p><p>“Probably not,” she responds.</p><p> </p><p>“Alright, let’s go through a small checklist, and then you can be off to enjoy your afterlife.”</p><p> </p><p>She nods and crosses her arms, “Quick question,” he says.</p><p> </p><p>He looks up from the clipboard, “Hmm?”</p><p> </p><p>“I’m young,” she says, “shouldn’t I be like …old or something?”</p><p> </p><p>He chuckles and shakes his head, “Normally, yes, but I see here you have a checkmark next to the age 35, which means that is the age you are meant to be in the city.”</p><p> </p><p>“What does that mean?” she says.</p><p> </p><p>“Most likely, that is the age you were promised to the Silver City. Barring any guilt or unkind acts, of course. So … that is the age you present. You can change it if you’d like. But we can’t really go beneath 30, unfortunately. Father’s rules.“</p><p> </p><p>Chloe shakes her head, “No, that’s fine. 35 is fine.”</p><p> </p><p>He nods and smiles before tucking the clipboard beneath his armpit.</p><p> </p><p>“Right, so that answers the mental capacity thing.”</p><p> </p><p>He looks down the checklist, checking things off before turning to her.</p><p> </p><p>“Is this your first time visiting us?” he asks.</p><p> </p><p>“Really?” she says as if he should know the answer.</p><p> </p><p>He clearly doesn’t.</p><p> </p><p>“I …no, I’ve been here before. You don’t remember?”</p><p> </p><p>He laughs at that idea, “Why would I remember you?” he asks.</p><p> </p><p>Chloe nods, “Right, that’s …yeah, you’re right. That was a stupid question.”</p><p> </p><p>He smiles and checks off the last item on the list.</p><p> </p><p>“Alright, let’s get you situated. Yeah?” he asks, tucking the clipboard beneath his arms.</p><p> </p><p>He snaps, and the hospital gown that Chloe is wearing disappears and is replaced by a white robe with golden edges.</p><p> </p><p>“Orientation is a bummer,” he says, “but Gabriel is a great storyteller, so you should be fine.”</p><p> </p><p>She nods, “Right. Yes.”</p><p> </p><p>He pulls out the clipboard one last time and makes sure he has everything checked.</p><p> </p><p>“Any questions before I let you loose?” he asks, “the meaning of life? Why Lost had so many seasons, perhaps? Here’s a hint, Michael doesn’t always tend to the army.”</p><p> </p><p>She shakes her head, “No I … where’s Lucifer?”</p><p> </p><p>The man pauses for a second as if not expecting that question. He doesn’t know the answer to that.</p><p> </p><p>“I can handle it from here, son,” they hear before turning to see God standing next to them.</p><p> </p><p>The man looks at God, then turns to her and looks her up and down.</p><p> </p><p>“Is this her?” he asks.</p><p> </p><p>God smiles and takes the clipboard from his son’s hand. It dissolves into thin air.</p><p> </p><p>“Go, there are many more souls to tend to.”</p><p> </p><p>The man nods, takes one last look at Chloe as if burning her form into memory, and stepping to the left, disappearing into the white wall.</p><p> </p><p>Chloe turns to God. Her eyes fall down to the onyx ring on her hand.</p><p> </p><p>“Where’s Lucifer?” she asks.</p><p> </p><p>He chuckles and nods, “You’ve barely just made it to the silver city. Don’t you want to see your father? Your mother? Friends? Linda has been exceptionally helpful with some of my children. Turns out, being the therapist to the devil himself makes your name widely known.”</p><p> </p><p>Chloe nods, “I’ll get to them in due time,” she says, “is he okay? Did everything turn out fine?”</p><p> </p><p>God narrows his eyes and approaches her.</p><p> </p><p>“You’ve just died a mortal death and are now faced with being able to be reunited with your loved ones. Yet, your only interest is Lucifer.”</p><p> </p><p>She shrugs, “I just … after all that happened, I never really saw you again. Amenadiel never really spoke about it, so … I just want to know if he’s okay.”</p><p> </p><p>God smiles.</p><p> </p><p>“Do you remember what I told you? About your choice?”</p><p> </p><p>Chloe nods, “Yeah.”</p><p> </p><p>“Now is the time to choose. I will give you some time. A chance to see what a life in the silver city might be like. But then you must decide.”</p><p> </p><p>“Can I not see him first?” she asks.</p><p> </p><p>God shakes his head, “There is no room for error. It is too risky.”</p><p> </p><p>Chloe nods.</p><p> </p><p>“I’ll give you some time,” God says before suddenly the room disappears, and she is standing inside of the park below the room.</p><p> </p><p>She can feel the grass beneath her feet and looks up to see her father, John Decker, sitting on a park bench.</p><p> </p><p>She gasps, her hand coming up to her mouth. She slowly approaches him as he feeds a squirrel a peanut.</p><p> </p><p>“There you go, little guy,” he says with a content smile on his face.</p><p> </p><p>“Daddy?” he hears before he turns to see Chloe standing there.</p><p> </p><p>His smile drops, and his eyes widen before standing.</p><p> </p><p>“Monkey?” he asks before rushing over to her and wrapping his arms around her.</p><p> </p><p>They hold each other for a long time, and she pulls away, tears in her eyes.</p><p> </p><p>“It’s really you,” she says with a smile.</p><p> </p><p>He nods and smiles at her, “I thought I’d be sad to see you here, but … it’s been so long. I think that’s good, right? You didn’t …it didn’t hurt, did it?”</p><p> </p><p>She shakes her head no, “Natural causes,” she says.</p><p> </p><p>He sighs and nods, “I suppose that is what any parent wants,” he says, sitting back on the park bench.</p><p> </p><p>She sits next to him and looks around.</p><p> </p><p>“Where’s mom? And grandma?” she asks.</p><p> </p><p>“Oh, they’re around,” he says, looking about, “you know up here you can do as you please. I imagine your mother is off studying for another play with Shakespeare. She actually has become a better actress in heaven if you could believe that.”</p><p> </p><p>Chloe chuckles and wipes the tears from her eyes, “Yeah, I suppose they haven’t seen much of her movies up here.”</p><p> </p><p>“Oh no,” he says, “They have the entire catalog. They just … they don’t care.”</p><p> </p><p>Chloe nods and watches him feed more squirrels that seemingly come out of nowhere.</p><p> </p><p>He turns to her as she stares out, thinking.</p><p> </p><p>“They’ll be fine,” John says, “You raised smart kids. Besides, they are adults now, I take it. There’s no use in worrying about anyone on earth up here. If they lived a good life, you’ll see them soon enough.”</p><p> </p><p>“I’m not worried about my kids,” she says.</p><p> </p><p>“Then what is on your mind?” he asks.</p><p> </p><p>“I don’t know what to do,” she says, “I just got here, and God wants me to be … he has a plan for me, and I don’t know what to think about it.”</p><p> </p><p>“Oh,” John says, nodding in understanding, “you’re deciding.”</p><p> </p><p>She furrows her eyebrows and turns to him, “You know?”</p><p> </p><p>He nods, “We all know. It’s all he’s been talking about since the war. You should have seen it, monkey. It was scary stuff.”</p><p> </p><p>“Yeah, I was there.”</p><p> </p><p>John nods, “It’s a tough decision. I don’t envy you. On the one hand you get to be the creator of something … great. A part of something bigger than yourself, but … to do that, you have to leave everything you’ve known behind.”</p><p> </p><p>Chloe shakes her head, “So what do I do?” she asks.</p><p> </p><p>He turns to her and watches her for a long time, “What do you want to do?” he asks, “without concern for anyone else, what do you want to do?”</p><p> </p><p>She stares at him for a while, her mind thinking about that.</p><p> </p><p>“This is heaven. Here we have what fulfills our souls, desires that make us … happy.”</p><p> </p><p> He turns and hands a nut to another squirrel.</p><p> </p><p>“There you go, buddy,” he says, a content smile on his face.</p><p> </p><p>“What would make you happy?” he asks, turning to her.</p><p> </p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <strong>--</strong>
</p><p>
  
</p><p> </p><p>Inside the waiting room, Lucifer stands on the edge of his penthouse balcony, looking over an oddly serene Los Angeles. The streets are clear, and there is no sound except the whistling of the wind and the rare distant bird. Lucifer sighs, morose.</p><p> </p><p>He takes the glass of whiskey in his hand and pulls it up to his face. He takes a gulp, but even the whiskey – as pure as it is – doesn’t taste right. These are all just memories of things he wants, not the real thing.</p><p> </p><p>He sighs before pausing and turning to see God standing behind him, a deep smile on his face.</p><p> </p><p>He furrows his eyebrows.</p><p> </p><p>“What? Don’t tell me you’ve been watching me again. I swear, what’s the bloody point of being the creator of a universe if you have your dad micromanaging you at every turn.”</p><p> </p><p>God looks at Lucifer oddly, “Again, you’re not in your universe yet, and I’m not micromanaging you. I’ve just come to check on you.”</p><p> </p><p>“Well, next time you should … give me some indication of your intended visit. What if I was having a wank?”</p><p> </p><p>“You weren’t.”</p><p> </p><p>“But what if I was?” Lucifer says.</p><p> </p><p>“But you weren’t. I wouldn’t be here right now if you were,” God says.</p><p> </p><p>“But what if I was?” Lucifer asks again.</p><p> </p><p>God narrows his eyes, “You’re still technically in my universe. If you were, I would know, and I wouldn’t be here.”</p><p> </p><p>Lucifer watches him for a moment, sizing him up.</p><p> </p><p>“Fine. Then what are you doing here if you aren’t micromanaging?”</p><p> </p><p>“I’ve come to see if you’ve finished your plan.”</p><p> </p><p>“Have I?” Lucifer says, rhetorically, “I’ve come up with an amazing plan. Much better than yours.”</p><p> </p><p>Lucifer downs his whiskey and moves to set the glass on the table before he realizes the glass doesn’t really exist. He wills the glass into non existance then approaches God.</p><p> </p><p>“You see, I’m simply going to start with-“</p><p> </p><p>God holds up a hand, and suddenly Lucifer finds himself unable to speak. God moves forward, his eyes on Lucifer. Then, he reaches out and places a hand on Lucifer’s chest. He stands there for a moment, his eyes reading the things inside of Lucifer's head that he dare not speak out loud.</p><p> </p><p>The more he reads, the deeper his eyebrows furrow, and the wider his grin gets.</p><p> </p><p>When he finally separates from Lucifer, he stands back, impressed, and giddy.</p><p> </p><p>“Oh … oh, that is <em>good</em>,” he says.</p><p> </p><p>Lucifer stands tall, prideful, “right? Much better than your … parent trap scheme.”</p><p> </p><p>“Well, it worked, didn’t it?” God says.</p><p> </p><p>Lucifer chuckles and shakes his head. They stand in silence for a moment.</p><p> </p><p>“I didn’t think I’d ever say this but … I quite like you when you aren’t all … my universe my rules.”</p><p> </p><p>God smiles and nods, “ I made you as intended. Stubborn.”</p><p> </p><p>Lucifer scoffs.</p><p> </p><p>“We must do what we must, Lucifer,” he continues, “When we give ourselves unto the world so that it might breathe with love and light and curiosity … we sacrifice pieces of ourselves for the greater good. Without that, we are selfish and prideful. Much like you were in your younger days. It may seem cruel to purposefully break someone, but when the end goal is something great, then, unfortunately, the means justify the ends.”</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Lucifer nods his head.</p><p> </p><p>“I believe you are ready,” God says, “It is time.”</p><p> </p><p>Lucifer nods, “Finally,” he huffs, “no offense, but I was about to start having imaginary friends.”</p><p> </p><p>God smiles, and Lucifer clears his throat.</p><p> </p><p>“I uhm, I’m reminded that you mentioned something about a Goddess? I was hoping that-“</p><p> </p><p>“Oh, right,” God says.</p><p> </p><p>“Who was it you wanted again?” God asks.</p><p> </p><p>Lucifer looks at him like he’s lost his mind.</p><p> </p><p>“The detective! You told me I could choose, and I chose her. So, where is she? Are we still waiting? How long a life did you give her?”</p><p> </p><p>God chuckles and nods, “Right, right. Well,” he says, his smile falling, “You do realize that free will plays a part in this. You can choose her, but she also has to choose you.”</p><p> </p><p>Lucifer’s annoyance falls, and he pauses, sadness falling over his face at the thought of it.</p><p> </p><p>“I see,” he says.</p><p> </p><p>“So, did she?” he says, searching for answers in his father’s eyes, “did she choose me?”</p><p> </p><p>“Turn around and see,” God says.</p><p> </p><p>Lucifer flips around, ready to see her standing behind him. Instead, he is only met with the empty Los Angeles skyline.</p><p> </p><p>His shoulders fall, and he nods to himself.</p><p> </p><p>“Right,” he says to himself.</p><p> </p><p>“She’s lived a good long life without me. Probably found a new love. Made new spawn.”</p><p> </p><p>He shakes his head, trying to be happy for her.</p><p> </p><p>“I … I suppose I got what I wanted,” he says sadly.</p><p> </p><p>He sighs before nodding to himself.</p><p> </p><p>“Well, you kept up your end of the bargain, old man,” Lucifer says, turning, “I suppose its time for-“</p><p> </p><p>When he turns around, he is met with Chloe, dressed in a silver city robe, standing next to Father. They both wear giant grins on their faces.</p><p> </p><p>Lucifer stares at her, eyes wide as if he couldn’t believe it.</p><p> </p><p>She looks at God, and he turns to her and nods. She breaks away, approaching Lucifer, her eyes searching his for any hint to his emotion.</p><p> </p><p>“Detective,” he says, surprised.</p><p> </p><p>He reaches a shaky hand out, as if he had never thought he would see her again. After all this time, all this time alone in the memory of his penthouse.</p><p> </p><p>When his hand connects with her face, and he can feel the warmth radiating off her celestial body, he breaks down into tears and yanks her forward, wrapping his arms around her.</p><p> </p><p>“Chloe,” he cries.</p><p> </p><p>She holds him as he rocks her, her hand coming up and cradling his neck lovingly.</p><p> </p><p>“Hi,” she whispers softly.</p><p> </p><p>When he finally stops rocking her, she pulls away from him with a smile on her face and tears in her own eyes. She plants a hand on his chest, as if disbelieving he were real.</p><p> </p><p>“I was told you were waiting on me,” she says with a smile.</p><p> </p><p>She reaches up and wipes his tears away with her hand. He leans in, his hand holding her face still, and kisses her.</p><p> </p><p>Her kiss is tenuous at first, as if she had years of kissing and loving someone else to get through. Eventually, her body remembers his touch, and she kisses him back. Things start to get hot and heavy before God coughs to remind them he is still there.</p><p> </p><p>Lucifer turns to him, and Chloe pulls away, straightening out her own robe.</p><p> </p><p>“Right well, I’ll definitely want you out of my universe before you start …<em>that</em>,” he says.</p><p> </p><p>Lucifer nods, “You and me both. I’d like to have sex without the knowledge of you watching me for once.”</p><p> </p><p>God nods and frowns, “Remember. Someone is always watching. Never say your plan out loud. Never tell another soul.”</p><p> </p><p>“What about the Detective?” he asks, “she might need to know. You know the whole goddess thing.”</p><p> </p><p>“Yeah, I’m still wrapping my head around that,” she says.</p><p> </p><p>“Speak with her through your bond,” he says, “When I give you your own universe, it will …mold you together in a sense. You’ll share thoughts and feelings. You can speak to one another that way.”</p><p> </p><p>Lucifer furrows his eyebrows, “Wait, but I’m going to have to give her a universe one day, right? How does that work?”</p><p> </p><p>God frowns, and Lucifer sees what he believes to be the only sign of actual sadness on his father’s face.</p><p> </p><p>“your mother was given her own universe because she was …she wasn’t made to live forever in mine.”</p><p> </p><p>Lucifer shakes his head, “But you said.”</p><p> </p><p>“Choice Lucifer,” God says, “We must always be given a choice. We can provide the path but cannot force others to walk it.”</p><p> </p><p>Lucifer furrows his eyebrows, pity on his heart.</p><p> </p><p>“Mom wasn’t your choice,” Lucifer says as a realization. As If it all made sense.</p><p> </p><p>God shakes his head, “No, the woman I wanted decided to live with her family. I can’t fault her for that. So …after I created the universe, I created your mother.  I gave part of myself so that she might exist. So that the universe might have balance. The universe<em> needs</em> balance. As on earth as in heaven. Good and Evil. Man and woman.”</p><p> </p><p>“You created mom for us,” Lucifer says.</p><p> </p><p>God nods, “but in that, I removed her ability to choose to be who she is. I created her as a Goddess, as someone who hasn’t experienced the things we needed to learn to be effective, kind rulers. So … she broke a few things.”</p><p> </p><p>“The infanticide, that was-“</p><p> </p><p>“Your mom was upset a human wouldn’t listen to God. So she tried to force it and …well… I most likely will never live that one down.”</p><p> </p><p>Lucifer nods and turns to Chloe. She looks at him, unsure of what is happening.</p><p> </p><p>“But we don’t be like that,” he says with a smile.</p><p> </p><p>She smiles back at him, interlocking her fingers with his.</p><p> </p><p>God sighs and nods, “Okay, well …good luck. Once I leave, I will never see you again.”</p><p> </p><p>Lucifer nods.</p><p> </p><p>“If there is anything you’d like to ask now, perhaps it would be a good time.”</p><p> </p><p>Lucifer turns to Chloe. They stare at one another for a second.</p><p> </p><p>“What is the meaning of Life?” Chloe asks, turning to God.</p><p> </p><p>God chuckles and nods.</p><p> </p><p>“There is no meaning,” he says with a smile, “not intrinsically. The meaning is what we give it. How we live, the people we love, and the decisions we make. Quite simply, the meaning is what we make it.”</p><p> </p><p>“huh,” Chloe says.</p><p> </p><p>God nods and sighs, “Well. I have faith in you son,” he says, turning to Lucifer.</p><p> </p><p>“Uh, quick question, before you pop off,” Lucifer asks.</p><p> </p><p>“Sure,” God nods.</p><p> </p><p>“In this new universe, we can do as we please?”</p><p> </p><p>God nods.</p><p> </p><p>“And … mortals, we can make them as we want?” Lucifer says.</p><p> </p><p>God nods, “several mortals have been made with varying body parts. The hundred and the nineteenth universe was made with mortals who had blue scales and walked on three legs.”</p><p> </p><p>Lucifer nods.</p><p> </p><p>“Excellent. So if we wanted, we could make it so that they have two penises?</p><p> </p><p>Chloe slaps Lucifer on the arm.</p><p> </p><p>“We are not making it, so they have two penises!” she says.</p><p> </p><p>God grins and nods.</p><p> </p><p>“You may do as you like. Just remember, no one is to know your plan. The darkness is smart.”</p><p> </p><p>Lucifer nods.</p><p> </p><p>God smiles, looks at Chloe, and winks at her.</p><p> </p><p>Then he is gone, and they are left alone. She turns to him, and his hands land on the small of her back.</p><p> </p><p>“I thought about you,” she says, “I never stopped thinking about you.”</p><p> </p><p>“Likewise,” he says before leaning in and kissing her.</p><p> </p><p>--</p><p> </p><p>On the platform that opens up to the stars, God slides the ring off his fingers and stares at it for a moment. He smiles a sad smile. Behind him, Azrael lands.</p><p> </p><p>“You called for me, father?” she asks.</p><p> </p><p>He turns to her, a pleased sadness on his face.</p><p> </p><p>“Lend me your blade,” he says.</p><p> </p><p>She nods and unholsters the blade on her side. She hands it to him, and he turns and cuts a strip next to him. It opens up a massive wound in the universe. Inside of it is only darkness.</p><p> </p><p>Azrael furrows her eyebrows.</p><p> </p><p>“Is that it?” she asks.</p><p> </p><p>God nods and hands her the blade back.</p><p> </p><p>He looks at the ring again before nodding.</p><p> </p><p>“Go forth,” he says, “and make a world better than my own.”</p><p> </p><p>He closes the ring in his hand and applies pressure. The gem cracks, and bright, chaotic light pops out of it. It spews from it like a geyser.</p><p> </p><p>He pulls his hand closer to the gash, and the light starts to suck into it before he lets go and tosses the ring. Then he seals up the gash with his hands and waits.</p><p> </p><p>Azrael stands there in silence.</p><p> </p><p>“Is that it-“ she begins.</p><p> </p><p>He holds up his hands, silencing her so that he might listen. Then, a strange, impossible gust of wind hits him like a hurricane, and he holds on, the entire platform going off balance before righting itself. Azrael, her eyes wide, holds on. Her wings pop out to keep her on her feet.</p><p> </p><p>Then, silence again.</p><p> </p><p>God stands there, his eyes plastered on the stars in front of him, and his jaw open.</p><p> </p><p>“Incredible,” he says, sheer astonishment in his voice.</p><p> </p><p>--</p><p> </p><p>The universe is dark and untamed.</p><p> </p><p>A single black gem floats through it, sputtering and spewing out its dark content. Then, in an instant, the gem explodes, and a massive surge of light and heat causes a gaseous cloud to form.</p><p> </p><p>The edges of this gas start to pool with a dark energy that is alive and fighting.</p><p>The cloud gets bigger and bigger as the universe expands and gets wider.</p><p> </p><p>Then suddenly, it is still, and God and Goddess stand in the living room of his penthouse again. Except this time, things feel real, as real as they can get. Chloe looks at her hands, her body glowing with a brilliant divine light. Lucifer stares at her and huffs, amazed.</p><p> </p><p>“Detective,” he says, “you’re positively glowing.”</p><p> </p><p>She looks up at him and smiles.</p><p> </p><p>She crosses to him and holds out a hand to touch the stubble on his face. It is prickly and electric. Like every ounce of him is pure divine energy.</p><p> </p><p>“We’re alone,” she coos.</p><p> </p><p>He smiles and shakes his head, “we’re never alone. You know he is watching.”</p><p>Chloe smiles and leans into kiss Lucifer before pulling him down onto the couch.</p><p> </p><p>“Let him watch,” she coos, her energy hitting the lines of his lips, “when he has his own universe, he can do what he wants.”</p><p> </p><p>Lucifer chuckles and grins.</p><p> </p><p>Chloe straddles Lucifer before pausing. She sits back and thinks for a moment.</p><p> </p><p>“Actually, can we make it a girl this time? I think it’s a little unfair everyone has been a guy so far. I’d like to see some more feminine energy.”</p><p> </p><p>He grins and wraps his arms around her, his hands sliding down to her ass.</p><p> </p><p>“I’d like a little feminine energy right now too,” he says.</p><p> </p><p>She giggles into his kisses before he suddenly pulls away from her.</p><p> </p><p>Lucifer furrows his eyebrows and tilts his head, “You know,” he says, thinking about it, “I don’t know how I feel about my daughter watching us either.”</p><p> </p><p>“Trust me, she’s probably looked away by now,” Chloe says, her hands roaming down to Lucifer’s buckle.</p><p> </p><p>“Wait!” he says.</p><p> </p><p>She groans and stops, “What?”</p><p> </p><p>“If we’re going to do this, can you wear something less …you know, silver city and more …you?”</p><p> </p><p>She looks down at the robe she is wearing and nods before untying the robe and tossing it off, so she is fully naked.</p><p> </p><p>“Better?” she asks.</p><p> </p><p>He nods and smiles.</p><p> </p><p>“Better.”</p><p> </p><p>“When do you want to start?” she asks, kissing a trail of light down his neck.</p><p> </p><p>“After this,” he says, his hands running down to her ass.</p><p> </p><p>He knows there is no body to speak of, but it still feels tangible and warm. He grins at the idea of exploring something new.</p><p> </p><p>She sits up, a curious look on her face.</p><p> </p><p>“What?” he asks.</p><p> </p><p>“If you’re here, and …and Ezria is you. Then, who is watching Hell?” she asks.</p><p> </p><p>Lucifer chuckles and reaches to wrap his hand around the side of her face. He pulls her closer to him into a kiss as he says, “Not our job, Detective.”</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>--</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>In Hell’s tall spire, the room with the balcony has seen better days.</p><p> </p><p>The furniture is broken and partially dismantled. Disregarded bones decorate the corners, and a fire sits in the center of the room. It is a far cry from how this room was when Lucifer – or even Ezria- was here.</p><p> </p><p>Having been kingless for centuries, it is clear there is minimal regard for order here.</p><p> </p><p>Two demons sit by the fire, laughing and making jokes as one gently rotates a human leg on the flame.</p><p> </p><p>“Did you send him to the void?” one demon asks.</p><p> </p><p>The other scoffs, “I tried. Damn asshole kept popping back up. So eventually, I chained him to a boulder and kicked him into a fire pit. Try coming back from <em>that</em>, asshole.”</p><p> </p><p>They both let go of raucous laughter when the door slowly opens. They turn to it, pause, then stand as a tall man wearing roman armor walks in. He surveys the place, displeased.</p><p> </p><p>They pull out shoddy metal blades.</p><p> </p><p>The man’s eyes eventually fall on them. He tilts his head.</p><p> </p><p>“You don’t belong here,” one demon says to him, “this is the dwelling of your new king.”</p><p> </p><p>He points to the demon standing next to him, who stands tall as to affect authority. The man looks at him, his eyebrows furrowed with little interest in moving. He is not intimidated in the slightest.</p><p> </p><p>“New King?” he asks, slowly approaching, his voice calm and confused.</p><p> </p><p>“Who told you to appoint a new king?” he asks.</p><p> </p><p>The demons turn to each other before looking back at him. One demon – the one who is not “King”- runs forward and juts his blade out.</p><p> </p><p>The man steps to the side as if it were nothing before reaching out, grabbing the demons’ hand and snapping it. The demon drops the blade as he cries out In agony.</p><p> </p><p>He collapses to his feet on the floor and holds his wrist as the bones shift back into place and heal.</p><p> </p><p>He looks up at the man, who doesn’t even pay him any attention. Instead, he stares at the supposed king of hell.</p><p> </p><p>“Who told you that you had any authority?” he asks, intently curious.</p><p> </p><p>“Don’t come any closer!” the king says, “don’t make me send you to the void!”</p><p> </p><p>The man pauses, looks at him, and chuckles.</p><p> </p><p>“Oh,” he says as if seeing the misunderstanding, “You think me for a demon?”</p><p> </p><p>Suddenly, two large wings pop out behind him and glow with a divine light that mirrors the fire still roaring in the center of the room.</p><p> </p><p>Their eyes widen, and jaws drop.</p><p> </p><p>The “King” immediately falls to his feet and kneels.</p><p> </p><p>“Stand,” the angel demands.</p><p> </p><p>The demons look at each other oddly and stand.</p><p> </p><p>“I am not here to be your King,” he says, “I am only here to serve as Father wishes me to serve. If you bow to anyone, it will be him.”</p><p> </p><p>“Wait, God … God told you to come here?” one demon asks.</p><p> </p><p>The angel nods, “Yes. I am to make you all his servants.”</p><p> </p><p>“So … you didn’t fall?” the other demon asks, “God told you to be here?”</p><p> </p><p>“Which of my words has confused you?” the angel asks.</p><p> </p><p>They stare at him for a long time. One demon begins to smile before he starts to choke back tears. The other demon looks at him oddly.</p><p> </p><p>“What are you doing?” he asks, “are you serious right now?”</p><p> </p><p>“I … I don’t know,” he says, anger pulling through his tears, “I just … I’m so happy.”</p><p> </p><p>“Then why are you crying right now?” he says, punching the demon in the arm.</p><p> </p><p>“Enough!” the angel says in a booming voice that is impossible to ignore.</p><p> </p><p>They stop talking and face him.</p><p> </p><p>“I must inform the others of my arrival. Go and gather demons to serve as my messengers. Then we shall begin.”</p><p> </p><p>“Begin what?” a demon asks.</p><p> </p><p>The angel turns to him, “Why, your education, of course. First lesson. Never question me.”</p><p> </p><p>The demons look at one another and nod.</p><p> </p><p>“Yes, My Lord,” they say in unison.</p><p> </p><p>“Second lesson, never call me anything other than my name. You are to worship no one but my Father.”</p><p> </p><p>“What is your name?” one demon asks.</p><p> </p><p>“Michael,” he responds.</p><p> </p><p>Moments later, demons gather at the bottom of the balcony and look upwards, ready to be addressed. They whisper to one another, wondering what this angel will do for them. It had been what felt like centuries since an angel had been in hell.</p><p> </p><p>So they wait, staring up at the balcony, hoping to catch a glimpse.</p><p> </p><p>Instead, from the doors at the bottom of the spire, Michael exits.</p><p> </p><p>“I have been sent by God,” he says in a loud, authoritative voice.</p><p> </p><p>Immediately they turn their eyes to him.</p><p> </p><p>“To redeem you. To make you worthy of earthly travels, if not the silver city.”</p><p> </p><p>They turn to each other, shock behind their eyes. They begin to murmur to one another, and Michael narrows his eyes.</p><p> </p><p>“Silence!” he screams, his wings popping out behind him.</p><p> </p><p>They snap their eyes to him.</p><p> </p><p>“I will tolerate very little with you,” he says.</p><p> </p><p>“I am Michael, and I alone am in charge of Heaven’s army. I have disciplined angels since the dawn of time for falling beneath ranks and will not suffer the loss of a demon.”</p><p> </p><p>They don’t say anything. They just stare at him with a healthy amount of fear in their eyes.</p><p> </p><p>“First order,” he begins, “You are to be charged as messengers. Bring the message of my arrival to the farthest reaches of hell. Ignore mortals in their cells or any other being that is not free to walk as you do. Tell them there is no King, only God, and that you are all his servants now.”</p><p> </p><p>They listen, not saying anything.</p><p> </p><p>Michael walks in front of them, sizing all of them up with intrigue in the way a sculpture might observe a solid block of marble.</p><p> </p><p>“Any and all commands will come through me and only me,” he says, “those who disobey will be punished. There is no alternative. There is no option. Only my will, which is an extension of God’s will. When you are done with your duties, return here for further orders.”</p><p> </p><p>He stands still, his arms crossed behind his back. They stand and watch him.</p><p> </p><p>Waiting.</p><p> </p><p>He narrows his eyes and grunts, “What of my orders did you not understand?” he asks.</p><p> </p><p>A few of them nod and turn to leave. Others wait, their necks craning to see what everyone else is doing. When they see other demons leave, they too go.</p><p> </p><p>When Michael is alone, he lets out a massive sigh and brings a hand up to his head.</p><p> </p><p>“Father, I have faith, but … what have you-“</p><p> </p><p>A shadow crawls behind him and catches his attention. He pauses, hearing a soft pitter-patter of what sounds like dozens of feet. He narrows his eyes and looks around, surveying the area.</p><p> </p><p>He listens for a moment, to be certain of what he is hearing. Then he sees a shadow cross into a nearby alley.</p><p> </p><p>Immediately his wings pop out, and in a demanding voice, he says, “Show yourself.”</p><p> </p><p>Suddenly, a small ball of darkness bounces out of the alley and approaches him.</p><p> </p><p>Michael tilts his head, and his wings relax and fold behind him. Slowly, as the ball of darkness gets closer, Michael kneels and holds out a hand.</p><p> </p><p>He feels a cooling sensation on his hand like it is being licked. The tension in his eyes lighten, and a small smile comes to his face.</p><p> </p><p>As suspected, it is a hell hound. Except this one is young and underfed. He can also sense it is shy, unsure. It has its tail – or the shadowy wisp that could possibly be its tail – tucked between its legs.</p><p> </p><p>He brings his hand up to wrap around the top of the shadow. He pets it, feeling the shadow give way to the form of a head covered in silky hair.</p><p> </p><p>Michael stands and stares down at the shadow.</p><p> </p><p>“Sit,” he says.</p><p> </p><p>The shadow lowers itself to the ground.</p><p> </p><p>“I suppose I’m to perceive that as sitting,” he says aloud.</p><p> </p><p>He hears a bark, echoed by smaller, lighter barks. They are all weak and don’t have the power behind it that a normal hellhound should. Michael sighs, unhappy.</p><p> </p><p>He looks around for a moment, wondering if any demon might be coming to collect their hound. When no one seems to be around, he turns back to the shadow.</p><p> </p><p>“Where is your owner? The person that created you?” he asks.</p><p> </p><p>Then he hears whimpering, whining that echoes and has no real sense of origin.</p><p> </p><p>“I see,” he says.</p><p> </p><p>He supposed that made sense. A hellhound with no owner, especially one so young, might not be able to fend for themselves.</p><p> </p><p>He sighs, “Well then, I suppose that means you are mine for the meantime,” he says.</p><p> </p><p>“What is your name?” he asks.</p><p> </p><p>The shadow barks again. This time the bark sounds stronger, happier. Michael nods.</p><p> </p><p>“Well, Calmos. If you’re going to assist me in revamping the underworld, I need you to solidify. Can’t have you as merely a shadow, can I?”</p><p> </p><p>Calmos just sits there as a ball of shadow. Michael tilts his head when nothing happens.</p><p> </p><p>“You do know how to do that, do you not?” he asks.</p><p> </p><p>Calmos whimpers.</p><p> </p><p>Michael sighs heavily, yet another task for him.</p><p> </p><p>“When did you die?” he asks, annoyed.</p><p> </p><p>Calmos barks and Michael pauses, the annoyance suddenly sucked out of him.</p><p> </p><p>He looks him over for a moment.</p><p> </p><p>“Calmos?” he asks, “as in … Calmos of Atmos?”</p><p> </p><p>Calmos barks again, and Michael inhales sharply.</p><p> </p><p>“Oh,” he says pleased, “I most <em>certainly</em> am keeping you now.”</p><p> </p><p>Michael looks around for a moment before turning back to Calmos.</p><p> </p><p>“Come on then,” he says, turning and walking away from the spire, “Let’s get you fed. Then you should have enough energy to materialize.”</p><p> </p><p>He begins walking down the path, a formless shadow bouncing happily behind him.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>That's all folks! Hopefully this ending is a little more satisfying than the main story ending. Thanks again for reading!</p><p>Follow me for future fanfics at hrfiction.tumblr.com. I have a few one-off's coming up, certainly nothing as long as this one in the foreseeable future!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
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